TRIPOLI, Lebanon -- On the road into Tripoli from the south, Lebanon's condo- and casino-dotted coastline rises sharply inland to hills crowded with apartments, churches and mosques. Cable cars running to the high ground provide spectacular views of the turquoise Mediterranean to the west, and of Beirut to the south.
Further on, as traffic enters Tripoli, a reassuring sign overhead reads: "Relax, you are in Al-Mina, the city of waves and horizon." ...