Amal, Palestinians Agree to End Camps Conflict

Palestinians loyal to PLO leader Yasser Arafat and the Syrian-backed Shia Muslim Amal militia have agreed to end their bloody three-year conflict in southern Lebanon, officials of the two sides said Saturday.

The two groups, which have fought fierce battles for control of Palestinian refugee camps south of Beirut, announced their truce late Friday and began withdrawing men from demarcation lines.

The groups’ 11-point peace pact, which was published in Beirut newspapers on Saturday, is the sixth such attempt to end the feud since the Amal militia first moved against the Palestinians to prevent Arafat and his Palestinian Liberation Organization from rebuilding a power base there.

In the new pact, the two sides pledged to avoid clashes in the future and to try to resolve their differences by peaceful means.

The fighting dwindled in the past year as Palestinian guerrillas, entrenched in hills overlooking the strategic coastal road connecting the key port city of Sidon and Beirut, occasionally exchanged fire with Amal fighters.

The agreement also stipulated the return of displaced Lebanese and Palestinians to their homes, the establishment of a “joint operations room” to coordinate military action against Israel and the lifting of Amal’s three-year siege of the Rashidiyeh refugee camp in the southern port of Tyre.

The pact also provides for rebuilding Sidon’s Ein el Hilwa and Miye ou Miye camps, which have been devastated by the fierce battles; a disengagement of forces; a reopening of all roads in the region, and the removal of front-line barricades to enforce a cease-fire between Amal and the PLO around Sidon in southern Lebanon.

The accord was sponsored by Mustapha Saad, chief of the Sunni Muslim militia, which controls Sidon and which will oversee the cease-fire.

On Saturday, bulldozers removed sandbanks and fortifications erected in a cluster of villages, security sources said.

At least 2,500 people have been killed and 10,000 wounded in the camps conflict.

Amal has an estimated 10,000 armed militiamen. The PLO has 4,500 guerrillas in the Sidon region.

Syria, which supports Amal, last month withdrew 66 truce observers from the highlands east of Sidon, a key port city. That raised fears of major clashes, but so far only localized skirmishes have occurred.

The conflict has centered on Sidon and its environs since Arafat’s fighters were driven out of their strongholds in Beirut’s refugee camps by rival Syrian-backed Palestinian factions in July, something Amal had failed to do.