REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIRUT -- Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam said that Friday's dual suicide bombings in the northern city of Tripoli "reveals the huge terrorist challenge that still threatens Lebanon." The explosions which rocked two crowded cafes in the neighbourhood of Jabal Mohsen killed nine people and injured 37 others.

He told a security meeting with senior state officials and army and police generals, that it was important for security bodies in the country to "remain under the highest state of vigilance and readiness in order to maintain security."

He hailed what he called "responsible positions" assumed by political factions following the incident, saying that this has thwarted attempts by "conspirators of evil to plant discord" between the city's different communities.

Residents of Jabal Mohsen, mostly of the Alawite sect of Islam, have been involved in an ongoing conflict with Sunnis in the neighbouring Bab Al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood, with the Syrian militant group, Al-Nusra Front, claiming responsibility for the attack.

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