BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam began decisive talks today with President Amin Gemayel on the deployment of the Lebanese Army in Beirut a few hours before the plan was to take effect.
Khaddam, accompanied by Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, got an official welcome at Gemayel’s summer residence in Bikfaya, a mountain resort 11 miles northeast of Beirut, before the talks began. Jumblatt and Prime Minister Rashid Karami also attended.
Jumblatt, who is also public works and tourism minister, had reservations about the Syrian-backed security plan and had boycotted Cabinet meetings six times, including Wednesday’s session which endorsed the plan.
The security measures call for the army to move into new positions in Beirut on Sunday and later along a key coastal highway leading to Israeli troop lines in southern Lebanon and into Iklim Kharroub, southeast of Beirut, where Druze fighters confront Christian militiamen.
The Beirut press, quoting government sources, said Jumblatt’s homecoming with Khaddam indicated that Syria had coaxed the Druze militia leader into joining with the government to pave the way for the army deployment.
‘Khaddam’s trip is to ascertain that all parties adhere to the Cabinet decisions designed to re-establish state authority in the capital and on the coastal road south and north of Beirut,’ said the independent Daily Star newspaper, quoting a government source.
‘Jumblatt’s presence is the main element for the success of the talks, indicating, according to well informed sources, a solution to the political crisis prevailing between him and the government,’ the independent An Nahar newspaper said.
Jumblatt was believed to reject army moves into Iklim Kharroub.
The security plan is the most ambitious since a Syrian-backed cease-fire went into effect in Beirut July 4, ending five months of fierce sectarian fighting between the Moslem and Christian halves of the city.