A Druse woman, Yessra Halawi, reacts after her house burned Sunday during clashes between pro-government supporters of Druse leader Walid Jumblatt and Shia gunmen and their allies in Chouweifat, south of Beirut.

Sporadic fighting resumed in northern Lebanon on Monday as soldiers were deployed in the mountains outside Beirut to quell violence there, and an uneasy calm prevailed in the capital, security officials said.

The worst fighting Monday was in the northern city of Tripoli, where government supporters and gunmen loyal to the opposition Hezbollah militia clashed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Fierce clashes Sunday in the mountain town of Chouweifat north of Beirut left at least 36 people dead, paramedics and Iranian media report said. That fighting ended late Sunday with a ceasefire agreement.

The latest deaths in Chouweifat raised to 49 the number of people confirmed dead in Lebanon since violence erupted Wednesday, in the worst internal clashes since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.

Arab foreign ministers met in Egypt on Sunday and pledged to send a delegation to Beirut to help find a solution. Plans to send Arab League representatives Monday were delayed, and the delegation is now expected in Beirut on Wednesday.

The political crisis has paralyzed the country and left it without a president since November 2007. On Monday, Lebanon postponed for the 19th time a parliamentary session to elect a new president. The session has been put off to June 10 from Tuesday, the parliament Speaker said.

Blow to U.S., Lebanon government

CBC's Nahlah Ayed in Beirut said there's an uneasy calm in the city but much concern that fighting could erupt again.

Fighting erupted Monday in northern Lebanon, but a relative calm remained in Beirut, after several days of fighting in the city over demands by Hezbollah for the government to reverse decisions that affect the power of the Iranian-backed militia and political movement. (Hussein Malla/Associated Press)

"More people are on the roads," Ayed said. "Some shops and businesses are open, but some are taking advantage of this [lull] to leave the city, heading for the Syrian border, the only land route out of the country."

Ayed said Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, has made major gains in this latest conflict, a serious setback to the Lebanese government and to its main international supporter, the United States.

"There's no question that the balance has shifted in Hezbollah's favour," she said. "U.S. interests here have been dealt a real blow."

Despite the relative calm in Beirut, a minor clash broke out at dawn Monday between government supporters and pro-Syrian gunmen allied to Hezbollah in the busy Hamra district, security officials said. Two cameramen for Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television, who arrived at the scene to cover the shooting, were lightly wounded and briefly hospitalized, the channel said.

Hezbollah kept arms after civil war

Most gunmen have withdrawn from Beirut's streets, in response to a request from Lebanese army commanders on Saturday.

Violence erupted last week when Lebanon's government decided to sack the chief of airport security for alleged ties to Hezbollah, and also declared the militant group's private telephone network illegal.

The government later made concessions to Hezbollah on both issues, after militia fighters took over large areas of Beirut late last week.

After the civil war ended in 1990, Lebanon's various militias surrendered their weapons and transformed into political parties, keeping only small arms. Only Hezbollah was allowed to keep its weapons because it was considered a resistance movement battling Israel.

The Hezbollah-led opposition quit the cabinet 18 months ago, demanding larger representation that would give it veto power over government decisions.

With files from the Associated Press