Amal Holds Control of South Lebanon

The Syrian-backed Shia Muslim Amal militia held control of southern Lebanon on Friday after a four-day battle with Iranian-backed rivals, police said.

The fighting killed 62 people and wounded 150, police reported.

Two West German relief workers who were being held by Hezbollah members in the basement of a mosque in the coastal town of Ghazieh were freed when Amal militiamen overran the town.

They had been abducted Thursday, but their disappearance had not been reported. They were identified as Heinrich Strubig, 47, and Petra Schnitzler, 24, of the Asme Humanitas organization.

The mainstream Amal, led by Justice Minister Nabih Berri, now holds all major towns and villages in the south and their supply routes, police said. Amal is Syria’s closest ally in Lebanon.

Holed Up in 3 Hamlets

Diehard fighters of the Iranian-backed fundamentalist Hezbollah, or Party of God, were holed up in three hamlets west of the market town of Nabatiyeh with Shia mediators negotiating terms for their surrender and safe conduct, police said.

Amal’s triumph reflects Syria’s determination to crush a growing challenge by Iran to its role as the main power broker in Lebanon.

Syria is Iran’s main Arab ally in the 7 1/2-year-old Persian Gulf war against Iraq, but it has been alarmed at Hezbollah’s widening influence and its efforts to seize control of Lebanon’s 1.2 million Shias.