Syria Delivers 50 Tanks to Beirut Shias : New Weapon for Amal in Capital Seen to Put Pressure on Gemayel

Syrian military trucks rolled into Beirut carrying about 50 tanks that security sources said were being delivered from the eastern Bekaa Valley to the Shia Muslim Amal militia.

Syrian army drivers pulled the Soviet-made T-54 tanks aboard six-wheel trucks through the narrow streets of southern Beirut, causing a massive traffic snarl before the trucks assembled near Beirut International Airport.

Some residents initially feared a Syrian invasion, but Amal political chief Akef Haidar told reporters they were not Syrian tanks.

“They are our tanks,” he said. “They are reinforcements being brought from the Bekaa Valley to Beirut for our men here.”

First Amal Tanks in Beirut

Political sources said the tanks had originally been given to Amal by Syria for use in the Bekaa. It is the first time Amal, led by Justice Minister Nabih Berri, who played a broker’s role in last month’s TWA hostage crisis, has had tanks in the capital.

The sources said the tanks were Syria’s way of putting pressure on Christian President Amin Gemayel to accept Muslim plans for a coalition of pro-Syrian groups and leaders to produce a new political system giving Muslims greater power.

The Amal hardware arrived less than 24 hours after the fiercest fighting in Beirut between Christian and Muslim militiamen since a new security plan to end the factional violence in the city went into effect July 14.

Rockets and Mortars

Rival militiamen battled with mortars, rockets and machine guns overnight, and several shells fell into residential areas far from the Green Line battle zone between Muslim West Beirut and the Christian East. Police said two people were killed and 14 wounded.

Hours before the tanks arrived, Lebanon’s Christian and Muslim leaders presented their grievances to Syrian officials in Damascus, seeking help from the regional power broker to mediate a peaceful solution to 10 years of Christian-Muslim conflict.

An envoy from Gemayel gave Syrian President Hafez Assad a letter outlining the Christian leader’s views on a Muslim proposal for dialogue with the Christian community aimed at radical reform.

The Christian Falange Party opposes a proposed coalition and Muslim calls for greater political power.