Army foiled liberation, says Beirut rebel

Press, 30 September 1986, Page 8

Army foiled liberation, says Beirut rebel

NZPA-Reuter Beirut Rebel Christian militia fighters who tried to seize control of east Beirut over the week-end were foiled by the Lebanese Army, their leader was quoted as saying yesterday. At least 33 people were killed in fierce fighting between rival groups of Christian fighters on Saturday and Sunday which devastated the eastern hilltop suburb of Ashrafiyeh.

A hand-written statement in Arabic, issued in the name of the ousted Christian Lebanese Forces militia chief Elie Hobeika, said his supporters entered east Beirut from the Muslim-controlled west to link up with fighters already there. They quickly took con-

trol of all but two of their objectives in Ashrafiyeh, according to the statement. “But soon the picture changed and the unexpected happened, for the Lebanese Army ... began intense shelling of areas we had liberated.” Mr Hobeika was ousted in east Beirut street battles last January by fighters loyal to the present Lebanese Forces chief, Samir Geagea, and the Christian President, Amin Gemayel, after Mr Hobeika signed a Syriansponsored pact with Muslim leaders to end the 11-year civil war. The statement issued in his name said his men had launched the attack to liberate Christians from “cruel conditions which

resulted from the conduct of Geagea and the policies of Amin Gemayel.” The rebel fighters “were not forced to use intense fire and avoided launching grenades to avoid loss of life,” it said. But the army had moved in with tanks and armoured vehicles in support of Mr Geagea and “shelled residential areas with unprecedented ferocity.”

Mr Hobeika issued orders to halt the offensive to avoid the killing of innocent people, the statement added.

The army command said on Saturday that its troops had formed a buffer between the combatants to restore normality and to seal off residential areas affected by fighting.

It said three army soldiers were killed and six wounded in the battle. A Lebanese Forces spokesman said the death toll among militiamen and civilians caught in the crossfire was at least 30. A senior army officer was shot dead in east Beirut yesterday, military sources said, but it was not known if the killing was connected with the week-end fighting. Colonel Khalil Kanaan, a Christian who commanded the Fifth Brigade, was murdered by gunmen who broke into his house in the east Beirut district of Hazmiyeh. Two more militiamen were killed yesterday in a clash with soldiers at a checkpoint south-east of the capital.