2 Die, 28 Wounded as Bomb in Suitcase Destroys Beirut Cafe

A bomb carried in a suitcase demolished a cafe popular with elderly card-players in Christian East Beirut on Monday, killing two people and wounding 28, police reported. The cafe was next to a police station, but no casualties were reported there.

It was the sixth explosion in a week in what newspapers are calling “the new bombing war.” Five of the bombings were in East Beirut and one was in the Muslim western sector. A total of 61 people have been killed and more than 300 wounded in the bombings.

No group has claimed responsibility for any of the blasts. Two were caused by car bombs that killed 32 people in the Christian sector last Monday and 25 in Muslim West Beirut the following day.

In West Beirut, meanwhile, 650 Lebanese troops and policemen backed by 200 Syrian soldiers were moving into Shia Muslim neighborhoods in an effort to end 27 months of control by militias.

Green-Line Control

Premier Rashid Karami, a Sunni Muslim, told reporters that the troops will take control of the hijack-plagued airport, the outskirts of Palestinian refugee camps and the area near the so-called Green Line that divides the city between Christians and Muslims.

The Shia Muslim areas are the power base of Nabih Berri’s Amal militia and Iranian-backed fundamentalists of the Hezbollah (Party of God).

Berri ordered his militiamen to cooperate in the turnover. The Hezbollah said its men will not defy the Syrian and Lebanese government force.

Deployment of the special force was the second stage of a Syrian-sponsored security plan begun June 28. Its goal is to end the reign of rival militias in West Beirut, which has been plagued by killings, kidnapings and bank robberies.

About 800 Lebanese troops and 500 Syrian soldiers were involved in the first stage. They have raided militia offices, disarmed and arrested gunmen and toured West Beirut around the clock in armored patrols.