Shoppers Busy in Beirut Truce : Troops Patrol Streets Under 7th Security Plan

The weary residents of West Beirut enjoyed a rare respite from the indignities of civil war Wednesday when a new security plan took effect, clearing most militiamen from the streets of the predominantly Muslim section of the Lebanese capital.

About 400 soldiers and 450 policemen were deployed in West Beirut at dawn, patrolling the city in gray Land Rovers and armored cars.

Shoppers took advantage of the lull and thronged such traditional shopping areas as Hamra Street, which was a war zone two weeks ago. The sonic booms of two low-flying Israeli jets were a pointed, if brief, reminder of the fragility of the peace.

“We are not here to fight, but to maintain law and order,” the army chief of staff, Gen. Mahmoud Tai abu Dargham, explained to reporters as his men fanned out early Wednesday.

The security plan is the seventh to be imposed on West Beirut since the Lebanese army fell apart in February, 1984, and--given the past lack of success--it was greeted with skepticism and derision by many jaded Beirutis.

“It won’t work because everybody still has their weapons,” said a prominent Lebanese journalist. “The militias were not disarmed, but merely were told not to carry their weapons in public.”

The cease-fire was given a boost Tuesday night when two leading Christians associated with the American University of Beirut, who had been kidnaped Saturday, were released in a public ceremony at the home of Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. Many regard him as a spiritual adviser to the fundamentalist Muslim group known as Hezbollah, or Party of God.

The two victims, Dr. Munir Shamaa, of American University Hospital, and Joseph Salameh, an economics professor and businessmen, were unharmed. Fadlallah said the two men were seized by relatives of Muslims abducted by the Christian Lebanese Forces militia.

The imposition of the security plan follows a spate of heavy fighting in West Beirut in late November between forces loyal to Amal, the Shia Muslim militia, and the Progressive Socialist Party, a mainly Druze militia. The Druze are members of an offshoot sect of Islam.

The fighting, employing heavy weapons, raged through crowded West Beirut neighborhoods, leaving 65 people dead, most of them civilians.

As is usual in Beirut, the reasons for the fighting were obscure, since Amal and the Progressive Socialist Party are nominal allies.

Contempt for the State

The fighting broke out after forces loyal to Druze leader Walid Jumblatt attempted to tear down the Lebanese national flag on the day before the country’s independence day. Jumblatt’s contempt for the Lebanese state is so intense that he is said to have commissioned a new national anthem to be sung in Druze-controlled areas.

But Nabih Berri, leader of Amal, is a strong believer in a unified Lebanon, and his forces quickly joined the fray over the flags.

Much of the fighting took on the trappings of mob warfare, with the militia groups disputing control of neighborhoods largely to reap the lucrative spoils of protection payments from shopkeepers who are neither Shia nor Druze but mostly Sunni Muslims. In addition, casinos and bingo parlors owned by Druze gangsters have proliferated in West Beirut despite opposition from the more conservative Amal.

Bodyguards From Syria

The fighting was so heavy that a force of Syrian truce observers stationed in the Lebanese capital reportedly felt compelled to import more than 100 bodyguards from Damascus.

Premier Rashid Karami, who is supervising the truce, said the security measures must work “because the country is on the brink of collapse.”

Amal and the Progressive Socialist Party issued orders to their fighters banning the wearing of military uniforms and the carrying of firearms in West Beirut. Both groups said violators will be “severely punished.”

The only militiamen allowed on the streets under the security plan are supposed to be “military policemen.” A number of militia offices were either closed or substantially reduced.

A tour of West Beirut found that the truce generally was being observed. One officer reported that his men had a confrontation with Druze militiamen over a roadblock but that the militiamen finally backed down.

All-Purpose Answer

Asked if the cease-fire seems more durable than any of the previous ones, the officer, who identified himself as Lt. Webde, said with an elfin smile, “Inshallah, “ the all-purpose “God willing.”

Abul Fadr, an Amal military policeman, supervised as a group of gunmen stopped cars on the city outskirts searching for weapons. Violators were sent home with a warning that they would be detained if they ventured out with their guns today.

One reason for the continuing skepticism about the durability of the truce is that Syria has been unsuccessful in its efforts to arrange an overall peace settlement involving Amal, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Christian militia known as the Lebanese Forces.

Tripartite Agreement

A tripartite peace agreement was drawn up and scheduled to be signed Nov. 3, but the talks collapsed at the last moment.

According to Lebanese officials, the Christians had second thoughts about reducing the powers of the Lebanese president, who is by tradition a Maronite Catholic, and about provisions of the proposed pact calling for virtual social and economic integration with Syria, the dominant foreign power in Lebanon.

In the absence of an accord, political analysts expect tensions to escalate between Christian and Muslim militia groups, perhaps in the mountainous area near Jezzine where both sides are gathering forces.

If fighting resumes between the Christians and the Muslims, the analyst said, there is little likelihood of keeping armed militiamen off the streets of West Beirut.