Clash Between Old Allies Looming in Lebanon : Iran, Syria Surrogates in Conflict; West Hopes It Will Spur Freeing of Hostages

A confrontation appears to be looming in Lebanon between Syrian-backed militia groups and Iranian-supported Muslim fundamentalists.

Western analysts here believe that the friction between the militias may reflect larger tensions that have surfaced recently between Iran and Syria, formerly close friends in a radical alliance with Libya.

Western officials are also hopeful that the conflict, which is apparently imminent, will hasten the release of foreign hostages being held by Muslim fundamentalists in Lebanon. The captives include six Americans, four Frenchmen and a Briton.

A Christian radio station, the Voice of Lebanon, reported Monday that leftist parties in the Bekaa Valley city of Baalbek have addressed an ultimatum to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Party of God, demanding that the group hand over control of the Sheik Abdullah army barracks in Baalbek to the Lebanese army.

The radio said that Hezbollah forces were also ordered to release hostages who were being held in the barracks, which Hezbollah seized two years ago.

The substance of the radio report was later confirmed in Damascus by Assem Kansou, a Shia Muslim who heads Lebanon’s Baath party. Kansou is close to the Syrian leadership.

Joint Demands

Kansou said in an interview that the ultimatum to Hezbollah was made by a Syrian army officer in Baalbek in the name of the National Unity Front, a coalition of Muslim political groups including the mainstream Shia Muslim militia Amal and the Druze Progressive Socialist Party, which are the most powerful Muslim militia groups in Lebanon.

Kansou, whose base of power is centered in Baalbek, a place with biblical origins, said it is not clear when the ultimatum will expire.

He said he believes that the only hostages being held in the barracks are Lebanese Christians, adding that he thinks the foreigners are not being held in Baalbek, but at other Hezbollah installations.

Western diplomats in Damascus said the crackdown on Hezbollah in Baalbek may have been inspired in part by American and French pressure on the Syrians, after the release of three kidnaped Soviet diplomats in Beirut a week ago. The Soviets were freed after house-to-house searches in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The Americans and French were said to be extremely disappointed that the thoroughness of the searches for the Soviets was far greater than for the American and French hostages, who have been held by their kidnapers far longer.

The Syrians and the Iranians are said to have entered a period of extremely tense relations. Putting pressure on Hezbollah would be a way for Syria to express its displeasure with Iran.

Allies With a Difference

Although the regimes in Damascus and Tehran have been allies for the last five years or so, Western diplomats and many Syrians have regarded the friendship as a marriage of convenience. Syria, a secular regime with close ties to the Soviet Union, has basic differences with Iran, a theocracy of fundamentalist Shia Muslims.

According to Western sources here, Iran was angered by Syria’s recent decision to disarm a Sunni Muslim fundamentalist group known as Tawhid in Lebanon’s northern port of Tripoli. The Iranians have also publicly expressed their concern that Syria has started reconciliation talks with Jordan and Iraq.

Iran and Iraq have fought their war for more than five years, and any sign of reconciliation between Syria and Iraq apparently worries Tehran.

A senior Iranian parliamentary figure last week warned the Syrians against improving relations with either Iraq or Jordan, one of Iraq’s strongest supporters in the war.

The Syrian and Jordanian prime ministers met two weeks ago in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the auspices of a Saudi mediation team. On Oct. 21, they issued a statement spelling out a joint approach to Mideast peace and rejecting “partial and unilateral” peace settlements with Israel.

Jordanian Prime Minister Zaid Rifai is expected in Damascus later this week for another round of talks, with all signs indicating that there has been a rapid improvement in relations.

Financial Motive Seen

Western diplomats believe that a major impetus for the rapprochement was a Saudi offer of substantial financial assistance to both countries. One report suggested that the Saudis had offered $600 million to each.

Financial assistance of that magnitude would permit Syria to reduce its dependence on Iran, which has provided oil discounts of more than $1 billion a year. Diplomats noted that during a recent cut in oil deliveries from Iran’s Kharg oil terminal, Syria mysteriously found the hard currency to buy oil on the open market. It was believed that the Saudis either provided the cash or the oil directly.

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shareh gave an interview to a Lebanese magazine last week, which confirmed that the Riyadh agreement with Jordan was achieved through Saudi assistance--both financial and diplomatic--to Syria.

Despite the recent tension between Syria and Iran, the two countries seem far from an open break.

An Iranian deputy foreign minister was in Damascus last week and the Libyan second in command, Abdel-Salam Jalloud, has been here for more than a week.

The Syrian ambassador in Tehran reportedly delivered a note this week seeking to reassure the Iranians that the door to reconciliation with Iraq is closed and that moves toward Jordan will not be allowed to affect Syria’s strategic alliance with Libya and Iran.