Syrian troops quell day of fighting in south Beirut

Press, 11 July 1989, Page 10

Syrian troops quell day of fighting in south Beirut

NZPA-Reuter Beirut Syrian troops have quelled a day of fighting between rival Shi’ite militias in the poverty-stricken southern suburbs of Beirut that killed six people and wounded nine. But tension persisted over Syria’s stepped-up sea blockade of Lebanon’s Christian enclave and the apparent lack of any breakthrough in the latest talks by an Arab League peace envoy. Some 300 Syrian troops moved in on foot against the pro-Syrian Amal and Iranian-backed Hizbollah (Party of God) after fighting continued in breach of a peace pact brokered by Iran and Syria in Damascus.

The militias have competed since 1984 for leadership of Lebanon’s 1.5 million Shi’ites. Onlookers said, however, that sniper fire continued in the suburbs where scores of cars had been set on fire and shops gutted. Security sources said there had been no word of six Lebanese on a yacht seized by Syrian gunboats off the Christian enclave under a sea blockade imposed by Syria to prevent arms from reaching the area. Syria stepped up patrols of its warships last week prompting a warning from sources close to the Christian Army Commander, MajorGeneral Michel Aoun. that this

could lead to a naval confrontation with Damascus. An Arab League peace envoy, Lakhdar Ibrahimi, left Beirut for Damascus after four days of talks with rival Lebanese leaders. Political sources said there had been no apparent breakthrough, raising the prospect of a breakdown in the shaky May 11 Arab-mediated cease-fire. General Aoun, who heads a military Government vying for power with a Syrian-backed Muslim Cabinet, has demanded an end to the sea blockade for any political settlement to end the latest round of violence in Lebanon which flared in mid-March.