BAALBEK, Lebanon: A crackdown on fugitives in the Bekaa Valley in east Lebanon spread early Tuesday to the region's main city of Baalbek.

Policemen from the Internal Security Forces fanned out in the Baalbek neighborhood of Hay al-Sharawneh at dawn while others manned checkpoints on side roads and entrances to the residential quarter.

Many wanted criminals from the Jaafar clan and others from the Wehbe family are known to be hiding in Hay al-Sharawneh.