Shells Fall Amid Arab League Truce Shuttle
Arab League envoys shuttled between Christian and Muslim sectors Friday to try to settle a dispute over the terms of a cease-fire and keep the rivals from rekindling their war.
The Arab League’s latest truce, the fifth in two months of fighting, was tested by minor shelling from Syrian positions on the Christian enclave north of the city.
The 20,000-member Christian army under Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun did not respond to the Syrian fire.
Aside from the Syrian firing, the cease-fire that went into effect Thursday was “holding along all front lines. No violations were reported,” a police spokesman said.
The four-man Arab League delegation headed by Lakhdar Ibrahimi held talks with Muslim and Christian leaders in West and East Beirut to “facilitate and expand the cease-fire accord,” he told reporters.
Ibrahimi said his talks aim at “stabilizing the security situation to allow the Arab committee to deal with Lebanon’s political problems.”
Sources in the Cabinet of acting Muslim Premier Salim Hoss said the Arab envoys were discussing conflicting demands about the deployment of the Arab League’s 321-member observer force.
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