Beirut Fighting Forces U.S. to Evacuate Some Embassy Staff

U.S. Army helicopters evacuated about a dozen of the 37 Americans at the U.S. Embassy in East Beirut on Friday during a lull in three days of heavy fighting for control of the area near the embassy.

As the Americans were flown to Cyprus, the Lebanese army and Christian militiamen fought scattered battles, but a fragile cease-fire appeared to hold in most of East Beirut, where the fighting has killed 60 people.

Christian leaders said later Friday that a permanent agreement to end the fighting had been reached and that militiamen would be pulled from the streets, but the army commander warned of the possibility of renewed clashes.

Witnesses said the three-story embassy building was pockmarked from shells, and all the windows were blown out.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Charles Redman declined substantive comment. “I would characterize what we have now (in Beirut) is minimal staff,” he said. “How long the people remain withdrawn depends on developments in Beirut.

“More generally, the recent fighting and the deteriorating security situation in East Beirut underscores the urgent need for all Lebanese to work together to restore the legitimate national institutions of Lebanon,” Redman said.

Friday’s relative quiet prompted a few residents to venture out to buy food or check on relatives, but schools, banks and most businesses remained closed.

At midday Friday, calm prevailed throughout the residential areas but was occasionally shattered by gunfire from minor clashes between soldiers and militiamen.