Gemayel, Patriarch Seek End to Beirut Clashes

President Amin Gemayel and top militia commanders on Monday discussed ways to end a week of clashes in Beirut as Lebanon’s Maronite Christian patriarch flew to Rome to ask Pope John Paul II to launch a peace plan for this war-ravaged country.

Christian and Muslim gunners continued to battle across the city’s dividing Green Line in artillery duels that have claimed dozens of victims during the week, many of them civilians killed by shrapnel and stray bullets.

Official sources said that Gemayel met the six-man Military Council at his palace in suburban Baabda. The council, which meets only in time of crisis, consists of the ranking officers from the three main Christian militias and three Muslim factions.

Official sources, who spoke on condition they not be identified, said Gemayel seeks a a neutral, militia-free zone along the city’s demarcation line, with security handled by religiously mixed units of the 37,000-man Lebanese army.

There was little indication that either side would agree.

Gemayel also held talks Monday with Maronite Christian Cardinal Antonine Pierre Khoreich. The cardinal, who later flew to Rome, told reporters that he will ask the Pope to start peace talks “on the international level” and to secure the return of Christians forced to flee their villages during Christian-Muslim fighting in southern Lebanon.

Newspapers said that Khoreich will present the Pope with a four-point peace plan for national unity, the return of Christian refugees, formation of a “strike force” to maintain law and order and the establishment of Lebanon as a neutral country.

Christian Flight

Thousands of Christians took flight last month from their homes near Sidon and in the Kharoub hills northeast of Sidon when Druze and Muslim fighters overran their villages after the Christian Lebanese Forces militiamen suddenly withdrew from the area.

Police in Beirut reported that 11 people have been killed and 67 wounded since Sunday night, raising the known toll to 40 dead and 254 wounded since the artillery, rocket and mortar battles began April 28.

Among Monday’s casualties were 12 Lebanese army soldiers who suffered bullet and shrapnel wounds in one neighborhood near the battle zone.

The demarcation line between the capital’s Christian and Muslim sectors has become a wasteland. Even the dogs have gone. The only sign of life is an occasional militiaman, red-eyed and unshaven, slipping from one bit of cover to the next.

The bloodshed, which shows no signs of abating, is accompanied by fears that Gemayel is losing authority among fellow Christians who are split over his pro-Syrian policies.

Regime Appears Helpless

The fragile coalition government of Muslims and Christians also is split along sectarian lines. It appears helpless, unable even to agree on a place to meet because Cabinet ministers fear to cross into rival territory.

Radio stations urged people to stay indoors, but after 10 years of civil war, few needed to be told. Many have fled the battle zone for the relative safety to be found a few blocks deeper in their respective districts.

Police reported “clashes with all kinds of weapons.” They added that 13 shells hit the international airport, damaging a Boeing 707 of Middle East Airlines and wounding four mechanics working it. The airport stayed open, but several foreign airlines canceled flights.