CLASHES resumed in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli yesterday and security sources said at least 36 people had been killed Sunday in fighting between Hezbollah and its pro-government Druse opponents east of Beirut.

The latest fighting in Lebanon, which began May 7, has killed 81 people and wounded 250, the worst internal clashes since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

Residents said they heard strong explosions reverberating through Tripoli. The fighting had stopped Sunday morning after Lebanese troops deployed between the two sides, then flared again yesterday after soldiers pulled back when the situation calmed.

The fighting in the town of Chouweifat calmed late Sunday after Druse leader Walid Jumblatt called on his opponents, who are allied with Hezbollah, to mediate a cease-fire and hand over the region to Lebanese troops.

Violence erupted Wednesday when Lebanon’s government decided to sack the chief of airport security for alleged ties to Hezbollah. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said the decisions amounted to a declaration of war.

Arab foreign ministers met in Egypt on Sunday and pledged to send a delegation to Beirut to help find a solution. The delegation was expected in Beirut today.

After the civil war ended in 1990, all of Lebanon’s various militias surrendered their weapons. Only Hezbollah was allowed to keep its arms because it was considered a resistance movement battling Israel.(SD-Agencies)