WORLD : Falange Leader Slain in Beirut

BEIRUT — Unidentified gunmen shot and killed an official of the conservative Christian Falange Party in the second such incident in less than a week, dealing another blow to a month-old government plan to restore law and order in unified Beirut, police said today.

Police said two assailants, using silencer-equipped guns, opened fire at Elie Daou and his pregnant wife at their home in the Christian neighborhood of Kfarshima.

Daou, a veteran leading figure of the Falange Party, died instantly. His wife was critically wounded and taken to a nearby hospital, police said.

An army communique said that after Daou’s assassination, Lebanese soldiers--entrusted to maintain law and order in unified Beirut--combed the area and arrested a number of suspects.