Soviet, European Panels Seek Peace in Lebanon

Separate Soviet and West European delegations descended Friday on Beirut, reviving outside efforts to contain the explosive Lebanese conflict.

The diplomatic offensive swept into a capital still ringing with threats over the deployment of a French naval force off Lebanon and tense from another night of Christian-Muslim firefights.

The aircraft carrier Foch and four other warships, including two frigates, were reported to be about 180 miles out in the Mediterranean, far out of artillery range of Muslim militias that threatened to shell the ships if they came in close.

The French said the ships were sent into the area on a humanitarian mission, possibly to evacuate French nationals in Lebanon, and as they avoided a confrontation the diplomats began their rounds.

Soviet trouble-shooter Gennady Tarasov, after two days of talks in Syria, a Moscow arms client, met in West Beirut with Syrian-backed acting Premier Salim Hoss. He also scheduled a visit with Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun, the leader of the Christian government, in the eastern sector. Tarasov was sent into the conflict by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, according to reports from Moscow.

After his meeting with Hoss, Tarasov told reporters the talks had been useful and added that they “agreed that the time is ripe for a political solution. Everything should be discussed politically and far from military solutions, . . . A cease-fire should go into effect and blockades should be lifted.”

Tarasov’s specific mission was not disclosed, but it coincided with the uproar among defiant Lebanese Muslims over the presence of the French warships. The Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas quoted East European sources as saying that Moscow had called on Syrian President Hafez Assad to avoid any confrontation, direct or indirect, with the ships.

Rejecting the insistence of President Francois Mitterrand and other French officials that the warships were on a humanitarian mission, the pro-Syrian militia leaders labeled their presence a military threat. Nabih Berri, head of the Shiite Muslim Amal militia, said his gunners would shell the French ships if they came within range.

Meanwhile, after another night of heavy small-arms fighting between Muslims and Christians across the Green Line that divides the capital, an eight-member European Community team arrived to assess humanitarian aid needs of the war-battered country, where more than 700 civilians have been killed and 3,000 wounded by Syrian-Christian shelling over the past five months.

The European Community team included Spanish, Italian, Belgian and Greek members, but French Ambassador Rene Ala took charge of the mission in Beirut and his presence along with two French representatives gave the team a strong French flavor.

The possibility of Arab mediation between Lebanon’s Christians and Muslims and the Syrian government, Arabs all, was revived Thursday by Chedli Klibi, general secretary of the 22-member Arab League.

“Our Lebanese brothers could, while there is still time, take advantage . . . for such a historic chance will not present itself (again) for a long time,” Klibi said in Tunis.

A league committee made up of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, King Hassan of Morocco and Algerian President Chedli Benjedid attempted to resolve the conflict with two months’ work on a delicately sculpted formula but abandoned their efforts July 31.

And despite entreaties from Washington and the United Nations, the three leaders have so far shown no interest in resuming their role as mediators.