Fear and grief as Lebanon's Tripoli buries its dead

Said Ebous burst into tears as his wife wrapped her arms around him after they buried three children of their family who were among 45 people killed in twin car bombs in Lebanon.
Ebous had been praying in the Al-Taqwa mosque in the northern port city of Tripoli yesterday when a bomb exploded in the courtyard.
Minutes earlier another blast had struck outside Al-Salam mosque just a couple of kilometres away.
"When I came out of the mosque into the courtyard, I saw bodies everywhere. I knew the children had died," he said between sobs.
"I saw the burnt-up bodies of three children. They looked like anything but human beings," said the man with a salt-and-pepper beard.

"They took me to a nearby house to calm me down. Then they told me, 'Your children are in paradise'," he said of his granddaughter aged seven, a four-year-old grandson and a niece of five.

The children were among seven people buried today in Tripoli, a day of national mourning across Lebanon, as the usually busy streets were deserted and shops remained closed.
Gunmen in civilian clothes attending the funerals opened fire in the air to vent their anger at the bloodshed, an AFP correspondent said.
"We must avenge every drop of blood that has been spilled," said one of the mourners, Khaled al-Homsy.

Others around him shouted slogans against the government in Syria whose 29-month conflict has spilled into Tripoli, triggering frequent clashes between opponents and supporters of the Damascus regime.
The bombings outside the two Sunni Muslim mosques also wounded hundreds, but the toll could rise as some of the injuries were horrific and because people were still searching for missing relatives.
"I am looking for the husband of my sister. Here's his car," said Mohamed Khaled, 38, pointing to a damaged vehicle.
"He is a baker, he was coming from Beirut and passing through here," he added nervously.
"His family is devastated. If he died, may God protect his soul."

Several charred bodies have yet to be identified, a security official said.
Shock and grief filled Tripoli today, and the fear of fresh attacks was palpable, the AFP correspondent said.