Lebanon’s Aoun Vows to Oust Syrians

The leader of Lebanon’s embattled Christians vowed Friday to drive Syrian forces out of the country whatever the price.

As an Arab League peacemaker shuttled between Muslim West Beirut and the Christian east side of the capital, Gen. Michel Aoun told a press conference that he would not settle for “anything less than a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.”

“I am not afraid of the results of the battle,” the 53-year-old leader of the mostly Christian Lebanese army said. “It’s true that the Syrians are stronger militarily . . . but the battle will cost them a high price.”

To Seek Foreign Help

Dressed in battle fatigues as he spoke to reporters at the presidential palace in suburban Baabda, Aoun, who heads a military Cabinet rejected by Lebanon’s Muslims, pledged to seek foreign help to oust the Syrian forces, which number 25,000 in Lebanon.

“If the United States and Europe are not interested in our cause, other countries are,” he said.

He mentioned no names. Iraq, Syria’s longtime enemy, is an active supporter of the Christian forces. The army has also received training from the United States.

Earlier Friday, a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Beirut said a military technical assistance team of three American officers was being pulled out of Lebanon.

“We are withdrawing the . . . team at the Defense Ministry as part of the embassy’s policy of reducing American personnel due to the current situation,” the spokesman said.

Beirut and its suburbs have been rattled by artillery battles for more than two weeks. At least 80 Lebanese have been killed and more than 250 wounded in the shelling, which began when Aoun imposed a blockade on harbors run by the country’s sectarian militias.

The so-called War of the Ports was aimed at re-establishing government control--and taxation--at the harbors.

The Muslim artillery of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Aoun’s Christian gunners have done most of the shelling, but this week there have been unconfirmed reports that Syrian artillerymen have fired on Christian targets.

The Syrians entered Lebanon during the 1975-76 Muslim-Christian civil war--to protect the Christians--at the behest of the Arab League.

Friday, a new Arab League peace effort was under way to stem the fighting and to try to work out a lasting political settlement in Lebanon. Ahmed Jassim, the Kuwaiti ambassador to Syria, crossed the dangerous line from east to west and back for talks with Lebanon’s two rival ad hoc governments: Aoun’s in the east and a caretaker Muslim government headed by Salim Hoss in the west.

No Central Government

The country has not had a central government since late last year, when a parliamentary quorum could not be raised to vote on a replacement for outgoing president Amin Gemayel, a Christian.

Jassim would not discuss details of his talks but disclosed that they centered on the current fighting.

A Good Friday lull in the artillery battles eased tension in the capital and people who had taken cover in basements and other shelters emerged and pressed shop owners to open and enable them to stock up on food before the fighting resumed.

And, after a 14-hour lull, the fighting did resume. Hundreds of rounds fell on both sides of the line dividing Beirut and on Druze and Christian towns in the mountains overlooking the capital, police said.