Allies of Syria and Iran Clash in Lebanon

Syrian-backed Muslim militiamen captured one-third of a western Bekaa Valley town Friday after a fierce house-to-house battle with pro-Iranian Shia fundamentalists, in which dozens were reported killed or wounded.

The fighting at Mashgara, 25 miles southeast of Beirut, and continuing battles at Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut overshadowed an agreement reached by Lebanese Muslim leaders in Damascus on a plan that they hoped would end the bloodshed.

Buildings were on fire in Mashgara and the town’s 17,000 residents had either fled to surrounding fields or were huddled in their basements.

Casualties in Streets

Dead and wounded lay in the streets of the half Christian, half Muslim town but police said they could not leave the police station to get accurate casualty figures.

In Beirut, sporadic mortar and grenade exchanges were reported on the 26th day of a struggle for control of Palestinian refugee camps between Amal, the main Shia militia, and Palestinian guerrillas.

The fighting raged despite a security plan negotiated with Syrian help and endorsed in Damascus on Friday by Lebanese Premier Rashid Karami, Muslim spiritual leaders and Lebanon’s key Shia and Druze militias.

The plan calls for setting up a special military force of 1,500 men from the Muslim-dominated 6th and 12th Lebanese army brigades to take over security in West Beirut from the militias and to attempt to reactivate administrative, judicial and other government institutions.

No Sovereignty for Camps

A communique issued after the meeting said the Palestinian camps would be subject to Lebanese laws and that there would be “no sovereignty for anyone on Lebanese territory except for the Lebanese state.”

Fighting in the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley began Thursday after the bodies of two kidnaped senior officials of the Syrian-backed Syrian National Social Party were found in Mashgara and pro-Iranian Hezbollah (Party of God) gunmen overran the party headquarters.

Police said about 1,400 party militiamen surrounded Mashgara on Thursday night, then backed by Syrian-provided tanks and artillery, pushed 300 yards into the town in close combat.

The Syrian National Social Party, which includes both Christian and Muslim Lebanese, advocates the incorporation of Lebanon into Syria, while Hezbollah wants an Islamic republic in Lebanon similar to the one the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini has established in Iran.

Power Broker

Syria is Lebanon’s main power broker and has 25,000 troops stationed in northern and eastern Lebanon. Iran’s influence is dominant among the 1 million Shias who make up about 25% of Lebanon’s population.

In the camps war, Amal militiamen shelled the Sabra, Chatilla and Borj el Brajne Palestinian camps on Beirut’s southern fringe with mortars and grenades. Palestinian guerrillas returned fire with rocket-propelled grenades, rifles and machine guns.

Police figures put total casualties in the fighting, which began May 19, at 120 killed and 557 wounded.