Lebanon truce renewal bid

Press, 12 June 1989, Page 10

Lebanon truce renewal bid

NZPA-Reuter Beirut

An Arab envoy sped between rival leaders despite shelling in divided Beirut on Saturday, trying to patch up a ragged ceasefire as a first step to ending Lebanon’s 14-year civil war.

Seven hours of artillery battles shook the ravaged capital, killing six people in the Christian east and wounding six others, before easing at dawn, security sources reported.

It was some of the fiercest fighting since an Arab League envoy, Lakhdar Ibrahimi, on a previous peace mission, arranged a ceasefire on May 11 intended to halt 60 days of savage bombardments.

The hail of shells again caught civilians in the middle of a war pitting Syrian forces and their Lebanese allies against

the troops of the Army commander, Major-Gen-eral Michel Aoun.’ Hundreds of shells or rockets hit Christian east Beirut and coastal areas to the north, at times slamming in at the rate of three a minute, the security sources said.

Mr Ibrahimi crossed the Green Line dividing Beirut after spending what security sources described as a sleepless night in a hotel in Muslim West Beirut as shells crashed nearby.

He held talks with General Aoun after discussing the crisis with the Sunni Muslim Acting Prime Minister, Selim Hoss, on Friday.

Mr Hoss heads a Syrian-backed Government competing for power with a military Cabinet in east Beirut led by General Aoun,