Arab League to Present 7-Point Lebanon Plan

CAIRO —  An Arab League envoy is scheduled to arrive in Beirut today to try to persuade Lebanon’s warring factions to lay down their guns and carry out a new seven-point plan aimed at bringing lasting peace to the war-ravaged country.

In a statement released Saturday, a three-nation committee designated to mediate Lebanon’s 14-year-old civil war called for an immediate cease-fire, a lifting of all blockades and a team of international monitors to prevent new arms shipments from reaching Lebanon’s feuding sectarian militias.

Saying that its efforts were an attempt “to stop the bloodshed and establish an atmosphere conducive to assuring the return of security, stability and national reconciliation,” the committee also made provisions for reopening Beirut International Airport and reconvening the Lebanese Parliament at the end of the month to decide the future of the government.

Skirmishes Continue

Machine-gun skirmishes between Christian forces and Syrian-backed Muslim militias continued in Beirut hours after the cease-fire demand was made public, and sources familiar with the negotiations said that it is unlikely that any cease-fire would take effect before the arrival today of the committee-appointed envoy, Algerian diplomat Akhdar Ibrahimi.

In Damascus, the Syrian government issued an official statement saying that it “welcomes” the recommendations of the committee, made up of the heads of state of Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Morocco. “The Syrian government renews its belief that implementing these security measures would lead to an end to the sufferings and bloodshed of the Lebanese brothers,” the statement said.

Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun, who heads the Christian forces that have been battling to eject Syrian troops from Lebanon since the latest round of fighting broke out six months ago, did not immediately respond to the statement.

Western diplomatic sources said that Syria has cheerfully accepted the Arab League committee’s recommendations, because they do not touch on the sensitive issue of withdrawal of the estimated 40,000 Syrian troops in Lebanon. Syrian forces have been deployed in Lebanon ever since they were first dispatched in a peace-making move in 1976--an issue that has undermined previous cease-fire attempts.

Because that and other key issues remain unresolved, few were optimistic about the prospects for a long-term settlement any time soon. But in Washington, President Bush called the Arab League’s proposals “essential first steps on the path to restoring a strong central government in control of all of Lebanon’s territory and to achieving the withdrawal of all foreign forces.”

In a statement issued by the White House, Bush promised to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Beirut--closed earlier this month in response to threats of anti-American terrorism by Lebanon’s Christian community--as soon as Washington receives assurances that “our presence can be reasonably safe and effective.”

“Now is the time for all of those with an interest in bringing peace to Lebanon, and for all of those who have been involved in Lebanon, to support the tripartite committee’s efforts, so the process of peace and healing can begin,” the President said.

At a news conference Saturday in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, site of the committee negotiations last week, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal said the Lebanese Parliament would convene Sept. 30 under the peace plan and discuss political reforms, re-establishing Lebanese government control over all of the nation’s territory, withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and relations between Lebanon and Syria.

But the Saudi minister admitted the committee had no means of forcing Lebanon’s warring parties to accept the peace plan. “The committee possesses no weapons with which it would impose its will in Lebanon,” he said.

Times staff writer Norman Kempster, in Washington, contributed to this report.