The World - News from Dec. 4, 1988

Salim Hoss, the acting premier of the Muslim Cabinet in Lebanon’s rival governments, accused his Christian counterpart of “an irresponsible act of sabotage” by closing the only crossing linking the divided capital of Beirut. The closure of the Museum Crossing, the sole route for about 17,000 people who commute daily between Muslim West and Christian East Beirut, was ordered by Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun, who heads a three-member Christian Cabinet. Aoun said officials making the crossing were being harassed. Warring militiamen have kept five other crossing points closed for the past three years. The closure brought the daily truck supplies of such staples as flour and fuel from East Beirut to the Muslim sector to a standstill, causing long lines at gas stations and bakeries.