The World - News from March 7, 1989

Christian-led troops imposed a blockade on Lebanon’s pirate ports in a move that analysts said could renew civil war violence. Officials said that soldiers led by Christian army commander Michel Aoun took four patrol boats out to sea to stop freighters from docking at seven makeshift harbors run by rival militias. They said Aoun ordered the patrols as part of a campaign to close ports outside government control and thus stem the flow of Lebanon’s dwindling wealth into militia purses. But political analysts said the militias are unlikely to give up their outlets to the sea without a fight.