Clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government factions in Lebanon's northern town of Tripoli Wednesday, leaving two people wounded, the local Naharnet news website reported.

A police source was quoted as saying that the firefight, in which automatic rifles and hand grenades were used, broke out as residents of the Tabbaneh district were taking part in the funeral of Bilal al-Hayek, who was killed in similar clashes Tuesday.

Hayek was a member of the Mustaqbal movement, headed by parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri.

The clashes broke out between residents of the Tabbaneh district, who are mainly supporters of the Mustaqbal movement, and gunmen in adjacent Baal Mohsen, a stronghold for the opposition supporters, said the report.

On Tuesday, similar clashes broke out during the Hezbollah-led opposition's general strike against the government, which, according The Daily Star, left at least three dead and over 130wounded.

Lebanese opposition forces on Tuesday blocked several main roads in Beirut and in other parts of the country with burned tires as the start of a general strike. The strike turned later into violence and riots between anti- and pro-government supporters.

Lebanese opposition alliance launched an open-ended sit-in in downtown Beirut on Dec. 1 to topple Fouad Seniora's government, declaring the anti-Syrian cabinet illegitimate and demanding early parliamentary elections and a new electoral law.

The Seniora government, backed by the March 14 parliamentary majority coalition, had rejected such calls and accused the Hezbollah-led protest of trying to obstruct the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2007)