Karami Consults Damascus on Lebanon Crisis

Lebanese Premier Rashid Karami flew to Damascus to confer with Syrian officials Thursday after the resignation of his national unity government in the face of fighting between rival Muslim militias for control of West Beirut.

Sporadic gun battles continued as the Shia Muslim militia Amal and their Druze allies seized dozens of fighters of the Murabitoun, a Sunni Muslim militia with which they once were allied against Christian warlords.

Witnesses said that a search by Amal militiamen was conducted from house to house in the capital’s Muslim sector and that the Murabitoun captives were driven away in jeeps under armed guard. There were also reports that hundreds of Shia gunmen sealed off three Palestinian refugee camps in the Beirut area.

Savage Battle

The savage battle for control of West Beirut began Tuesday and prompted Karami, a Sunni Muslim, to announce the resignation of his government Wednesday. Thirty-three people were reported killed and 135 wounded in the violence.

Local radio stations said Syrian President Hafez Assad fears that the resignation of Karami’s government will plunge Lebanon into all-out civil war and that he is pressuring the premier to withdraw it. Karami has already agreed to stay on in a caretaker role.

Diplomats and political analysts speculated that the Syrians, determined to prevent Palestine Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat from regaining a power base in West Beirut, did not try to discourage the Amal and Druze militias from smashing the Murabitoun, which is allied with the PLO.

The Shia and Druze militias are Syria’s strongest allies in Lebanon. Syria has more than 30,000 troops in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon and is the nation’s main power broker.

School Aide Kidnaped

Also on Thursday, the American University of Beirut reported that its acting vice president for administration, George Sayegh, was kidnaped from his West Beirut home.

Sayegh, a Lebanese and a Greek Orthodox Christian, was seized by unidentified gunmen shortly after midnight Wednesday, university officials said. No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnaping.

Officials appealed for Sayegh’s release and noted that he suffers from heart trouble and needs to continuously take medication.

In southern Lebanon, sectarian fighting flared again Thursday around the ancient port of Sidon.

Christian militiamen in hills east of the city poured mortar and tank fire into two Palestinian refugee camps and surrounding areas. Hospitals said six people were killed and 14 wounded.