Gunfire Hits U.S. Envoy’s Car in Beirut : Kelly Uninjured in Mistaken Exchange With Christian Militia

U.S. Ambassador John Kelly’s car was hit in a brief exchange of gunfire between his bodyguards and a Christian militia patrol in East Beirut today, but the envoy was not hurt in the shooting which came about as a result of a misunderstanding, police said.

A police spokesman, who cannot be identified under standing regulations, said one bullet hit the hood of Kelly’s armor-plated limousine.

The spokesman said the shooting occurred when Kelly’s bodyguards in two escort cars fired in the air with automatic rifles, “apparently to make way for the ambassador’s convoy” in a traffic-jammed street in the Sin Fil neighborhood.

The ambassador’s motorcade was heading for the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy compound in the suburb of Aukar.

The police spokesman said Kelly was in a dark blue bulletproof limousine driving between the two escort vehicles.

A militia patrol from President Amin Gemayel’s right-wing Falange Party, which was in the area, “opened fire in the air too, in an effort to stop Kelly’s convoy to check what was happening,” the spokesman said.

“Kelly’s bodyguards fired three bullets at the Falangists in a white Mercedes-Benz and the patrol fired back,” the spokesman said.

Continues Trip to Embassy

“Kelly’s car was hit by one bullet in the hood and the convoy continued on its way to the Embassy,” the spokesman added.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “The ambassador and all his escorts are fine.”

In another development, police said three members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, or Party of God, were wounded in a brief fire fight with rival Shia Muslim of the Syrian-aided Amal militia in South Beirut Wednesday night.

A police spokesman said the five-minute fire fight in the Shiyah district ended when Syrian troops intervened.

The clash was the first reported between the two sides since Syria deployed 2,400 soldiers in Beirut’s southern slums Friday and Saturday to end three weeks of street battles between the two militias in which nearly 300 people were killed and 1,000 wounded.

Amal accused Hezbollah of provoking the clash and said the three wounded militiamen were armed with silencer-equipped pistols.

Hezbollah said Amal militiamen opened fire on the three unarmed Hezbollah partisans as they drove to Shiyah to check on their apartments.