Fighting between Syrian peacekeeping troops and Christian Phalangist militiamen spread from Beirut and Zahle to other Lebanese towns today and the pro-Soviet Syrian regime rebuffed U.S. warnings to halt its bombardment of Christian areas.
The Syrian troops and the Phalangist militiamen appeared ready to intensify and enlarge their conflict — which has already left more than 200 people dead and 500 wounded — into an international crisis.
Syrian Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam met for five hours with Prsident Elias Sarkis, Prime Minister Chefik Wazza and other senior Lebanese ministers to discuss the explosive situation in Lebanon. While they talked in Baabda presidential palace, shells fell only a few hundred yards away.
The meeting produced no immediate results. Asked if another cease-fire had been reached — 17 have already been broken — Khaddam told reporters: ‘We analyzed the situation from all points of view and we laid down a framework for the next step. But it all depends on how much the partners on the Lebanese scene accept these things.’
Asked to comment on U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig’s warning that the Syrians should halt their bomardment of Christians areas, Khaddam said ‘Haig must recall how much damage American arms have caused Lebanon and the Arab world. Haig must recall the results of American backing for Israel.’
