Lebanon may copy Swiss

Press, 8 December 1976, Page 8

Lebanon may copy Swiss

NZPA-Reuter Beirut The Lebanese Right-wing leader, Mr Camille Chamoun, has said the bitter residue of 19 months of civil war rules out peaceful coexistence between Moslems and Christians in mixed areas in Lebanon. ■ In an interview with NZPAReuter, Mr Chamoun proposed a Swiss-style federal system for his country. “If we want to avoid friction after everything that has (happened here, we must Ichoose political decentralisation — federal status for the Christian and Moslem communities,” he said. “We should follow the example of Switzerland. “Any dispute in this country can deteriorate into very serious trouble. For the sake of everybody, there must* be decentralisation.” Mr Chamoun, aged 76, a former Labanese President, heads the National Liberal Party', whose civil war militia played a prominent role in wiping out Left-wing enclaves in Rightist-dominated territory.

t Syria is understood to be opposed to a federal system ’ with a measure of autonomy • for the rival communities. f But Mr Chamoun shrugged 5 off Syrian reservations. ’ “Syria could not prevent " such a solution if the Leban- ' ese really want it,” he said. In the present Lebanese ‘ Government, defunct through ' most of the war. Mr Cham- ' oun is Deputy Prime Minister a::d holds the interior, ’ foreign, and defence portfo--5 lios. President Elias Sarkis is r expected to form a new Gov- ’ emment, largely of techno--5 crafts before the end of the ' year. ’ Looters who plundered ’ branches of the foreign banks during the war, hauled away ‘ cash, bonds, travellers’ r cheques, and jewellery estii mated to be worth about ; 500 million dollars. 1 The fighting, between armed members of Al Fatah 1 and the Syrian-controlled Al ■ Saiqa movement, erupted * during the burial of an Al j Fatah officer killed in a previous incident.