Israelis begin pull-back

Press, 5 September 1983, Page 10

Israelis begin pull-back

NZPA Beirut Dozens of Israeli armoured vehicles and military trucks were seen leaving the Beirut area yesterday on a route leading towards southern Lebanon.

An Israeli military spokesman interviewed at Yarze, just outside Beirut, declined to discuss when the partial withdrawal from the northernmost Israeli positions in Labanon, which has been expected for days, might begin. But there was speculation that the convoy that was observed by Western correspondents might have constituted a preliminary part of the withdrawal.

(In Washington State Department officials said that they had been told by Israeli officials that the Israeli forces would begin to withdraw from the Chouf Mountains today to the Awali (Aouali) River. They said that they had not been officially told of any change in plans. But they said that they could not rule out the possibility that some advance elements had begun to move.)

The convov seen bv reporters on the southerneastern outskirts of Beirut included jeeps and heavy trucks, as well as armoured personnel carriers and one tank. The troops manning the convoy seemed relaxed; some were carrying rifles.

Earlier foreign military observers also reported having seen large numbers of Israeli military vehicles

moving south near the area where the international peace-keeping force is deployed, to the south of the capital. One non-Lebanese military analyst who is cool towards the Government of Amin Gemayel reported that the Government had requested in the previous 48 hours that the Israelis once again delay their withdrawal. There has been no indication that the Israeli Government, which has said it must make the pull-back for economic and strategic

reasons, would acquiesce to such a Lebanese request. The Israeli convoy observed yesterday was moving along at roughly 30 km/h, permitting civilian vehicles to share the highway. There was no sign that it was causing anv narticular stir among the residents. A British officer serving with the multinational peace-keeping force reported by telephone that during the previous 12 hours he had observed Israeli vehicle movements that were heavier than usual. The British officer reported that he and his col-

leagues had observed about 100 Israeli vehicles moving south along the thoroughfare known as the Old Sidon Road. The road runs parallel to the Mediterranean coast, a few kilometres inland.

The officer said that 90 per cent of the vehicles were trucks that were carrying supplies and equipment. A few Israeli armoured personnel carriers accompanied the trucks, he reported, but no tanks. The officer said that the movement of vehicles did not necessarily constitute a part of the anticipated partial Israeli withdrawal.

In another development yesterday the Lebanese Army moved troops and armour into Christian east Beirut without opposition from Christian milita forces there.

The Army, which is mainly Christian, also ordered the militia to close its headquarters in east Beirut’s port area, according to military informants close to the Lebanese Government.

Despite the Government’s enhanced stature since the Army wrested parts of west Beirut back from Muslim militias earlier this week, Lebanese families, fearing renewed violence, continued to leave the city yesterday.

Thousands of Beirut residents had left last week, some to go to Syria and other countries. There is much anxiety and uncertainty in Beirut largely about the planned withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Mr Shafik Wazzan, told Lebanese Parliamentary leaders yesterday that “this is a fateful day,” suggesting that the Israeli withdrawal was imminent. He also conferred with Mr Gemayel, the President. Lebanese officals have said that the Lebanese Army will ntove into the evacuated area, seeking to gain control. Some Beirut residents have expressed concern that civil strife will break out in the area and perhaps Hare up again in the capital. Some Lebanese radio broadcasts and newspapers were predicting yesterday that the Israeli Army would begin the withdrawal from the Chouf in 48 hours. They predicted that thousands of troops — three Lebanese Army brigades, reinforced by commandos carried by helicopters, and also by tanks and armoured personnel carriers — would take part. The Government wants to control the area that is to be evacuated, which includes the Aley district and the Chouf, despite the prospect of resistance from the Druse relgious group. Beirut remained quiet yesterday for a second day, and Saeb Salam, a former prime Minister of Lebanon who is the paramount Sunni Muslim political leader, said at a news conference that in the capital in recent days “the Army tried to restore law and order in procedures that were very hard but law and order seems to be restored now.”