WORLD : Beirut’s Uneasy Cease-Fire Holds
A cease-fire brokered by the Arab League held today, halting 52 days of shelling duels between Lebanese Christian and Syrian army brigades that killed 273 people.
But differences about control of the country’s ports--which started the fighting--threaten to undermine the agreement negotiated Thursday by Arab foreign ministers in Tunisia.
The agreement provides for an unspecified number of Arab observers to monitor the cease-fire, thus loosening Syria’s grip as Lebanon’s main power broker. A police spokesman said two howitzer shells fired from Syrian-controlled mountains slammed into the Christian enclave 90 minutes after the cease-fire went into effect but no further violations were reported.
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