40 Killed in Fighting in Christian East Beirut : Showdown Between Lebanese Army, Militia Was Expected; U.S. Embassy Hit

Heavy fighting flared Wednesday in the Christian heartland of East Beirut, apparently the start of a long-expected showdown between the Lebanese army and the Christian militia.

Lebanese officials said scores of people were killed in the fighting, which went on through the night.

A report from West Beirut quoted a police official as saying that at least 40 people had been killed. An army spokesman acknowledged that the dead included seven military personnel.

The immediate cause of the fighting was an incident Tuesday involving members of the Christian militia known as the Lebanese Forces. They reportedly attacked an army jeep, killing one soldier and wounding four others. The militia then set up roadblocks along the main coastal highway leading east from Beirut to the Christian heartland toward Juniyah.

Pounding Barracks

Army units moved tanks from their bases in the mountains toward the coastal highway, pounding militia barracks at Karantina, near the so-called Green Line separating East Beirut and West Beirut, and routing Lebanese Forces troops from their barracks in East Beirut.

Smoke billowed up from burning office and apartment buildings set ablaze by a heavy artillery bombardment from army positions in the heights above the city. The main coastal highway was closed by army tanks and the roads to Syria were cut.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Charles Redman said the U.S. Embassy was hit by shellfire. “While not a target, the embassy compound and two embassy residences have been hit by shells,” he said, adding that no embassy personnel were injured.

A police spokesman was quoted as saying that the army appeared to be trying to drive the Lebanese Forces from strongholds in the Christian half of the capital.

Late Wednesday, the Associated Press said Beirut police reported that the Lebanese Forces had staged a night attack on the residence of the army commander, Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun, in the suburban Rabieh district.

Hundreds of militia members stormed the hilltop section of posh villas and surrounded about 50 troops guarding Aoun’s house, the AP said. Neither Aoun nor his wife were believed to be in the home seven miles north of Beirut.

Many political analysts in Lebanon had been predicting as inevitable a clash between the Lebanese Forces and the mainly Christian units of the Lebanese Army based in East Beirut.

Aoun was named premier of Lebanon last year by the outgoing president, Amin Gemayel, after Parliament deadlocked on the choice of a new president. He was supported at the time by the Lebanese Forces, which are commanded by Samir Geagea, a former medical student. Salim Hoss, then acting premier, has also declared himself the head of a rival Muslim cabinet.

Both Maronite Christians

Like most of their followers, Geagea and Aoun are Maronite Catholics, so the battle taking place now is essentially for the leadership of the Christian community of Lebanon, which includes nearly half of the country’s 3 million people.

The Christian units of the Lebanese army are equipped with American weapons and are the most cohesive force in the army. They have about 10,000 troops under arms.

The Lebanese Forces are heavily armed, including tanks and artillery sold by Israel, and field a fighting force of about 6,000.

A stalemate in the government has resulted since the formation of rival regimes in the Christian and Muslim communities. If Aoun is victorious in the current struggle, it seems likely that he will realize his ambition of becoming Lebanon’s next president.

The crushing of the Lebanese Forces in East Beirut would be an important gesture to Syria, which has opposed Aoun’s government in East Beirut. The Syrians have sought a withdrawal of Christian militia forces from East Beirut as a return favor for the Syrian army’s occupation of West Beirut, which ended several years of militia anarchy last year.

Geagea was asked on Lebanese television recently whether he would allow the Lebanese Forces to be absorbed into the army, thus regaining for the state some of its tarnished prestige.

“We are the state,” Geagea replied, “and it’s the army that should be absorbed by the Lebanese Forces.”

Aoun insists he is the only legitimate power in Lebanon.

The government has been paralyzed by the failure to elect a new president. Lebanese wishing to travel abroad have been unable to get passports because there is no universally recognized executive authority in the country.