Fighting dies in Beirut

Press, 3 July 1978, Page 8

Fighting dies in Beirut

Beirut Syrian peacekeeping troops imposed tight security on a Beirut suburb early yesterday where 22 people were reported killed in heavy fighting.

Residents said the clashes,! involving tanks and rocket batteries, subsided after nightfall but sporadic sniping persisted.

Independent sources said the fighting appeared to have been between the Right-wing militia and the Syria n-dominated Arab Peacekeeping Force (A.D.F.), which has maintained secur ity in most of Lebanon since the civil war ended in November, 1976. The Right-wing Falangist radio said the casualties had been confined to the Christian district of Ain-Rumma-neh, where tanks and guns set several buildings ablaze An estimated 50 people were killed and 250 wounded when Syrian troops attached to the 30,000-strong A.D.F.

fought the mainly-Christian right-wing militias in the same area in April. Local residents said calm returned after Syrian reinforcements surrounded tne district.

A Left-wing radio said the i fighting began after the Rightist militia attacked the neighbouring Moslem area of Shiyah, while Right-wing sources blamed it on a grej nade attack in the city centre by three Syrian soldiers in civilian clothes. Officials said the Lebanese President (Mr Sarkis) had an urgent telephone conversation on the fighting with the Syrian President (Mr AlAssad). No details of the talks were issued, but the Staterun Damascus Radio said later that Syria would render every assistance to help the Lebanese authorities maintain security. The dividing line between Ain Rummaneh and Shiyah had been “flashpoint’’ during the civil war.