Muslims Urge End to Militias

Leaders of Lebanon’s Druze, Sunni and Shia Muslim communities today issued sweeping proposals to rewrite the constitution and dismantle all militias in Beirut.

Lebanese Prime Minister Rashid Karami issued a statement on a “new national plan” drawn up by 12 Muslim leaders during an 11-hour meeting in the Syrian capital of Damascus today and Monday. The 12 agreed to collect all weapons and dissolve all militias, and to “rebuild a new army.” Never before have so many Muslim leaders made such an explicit call for a new constitution, but political commentators said much of the plan has been suggested before.