The Guns Fall Silent

By William E. Smith

After ten weeks of bitter siege, the P.L.O. evacuation from West Beirut begins

We have reached the end of our sorrows," Lebanese Prime Minister Chafik al Wazzan declared with heartfelt fervor last week, then quickly added, "at least on paper." And so it seemed. In mid-afternoon last Saturday, a force of about 450 fighting men of the Palestine Liberation Organization left Beirut by sea bound for Cyprus, | thereby setting in motion the evacuation of some 7,000 P.L.O. guerrillas from the Lebanese capital. The event was both dramatic and historic, since it marked the end not only of the ten-week Israeli siege of West Beirut but of the PL.O.'s twelve-year domination of Lebanon.

All Beirut seemed to erupt in gunfire as the first elements of the P.L.O. contingent left the Fakhani district, site of the organization's headquarters, aboard Lebanese army trucks. For nearly three hours, hundreds of Palestinian soldiers throughout the city fired rifles, machine guns, rockets and antiaircraft guns into the air in a grand salute to their departing comrades. Watching the spectacle were 350 French peace-keeping troops who had arrived shortly after dawn that morning to assist in the evacuation.

As the convoy moved through the crowded streets, the Palestinians were greeted by cheers and placards reading THE REVOLUTION CONTINUES and BEIRUT IS PROUD OF YOU. Caught up in the emotion, an old Arab woman cried, "They are all my sons. Allah is great!"

Watching the withdrawal from Beirut's waterfront, Israel's tough Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, architect of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, declared that the P.L.O. had suffered "a crushing defeat" and had lost "its kingdom of terrorism," and so it had. But in the streets of West Beirut, the P.L.O. guerrillas were full of bravado as their moment of departure approached. Said a colonel: "We are withdrawing but we shall return, just as we shall return to Palestine." In a remarkably short time, the Palestinians, together with their packs and their AK-47 assault rifles, were loaded aboard a Cypriot ferryboat, the Sol Georgious. Shortly after 2 p.m., a full two hours ahead of schedule, they were on their way to Larnaca, Cyprus, as the bombastic farewell salute continued in the city they were leaving behind.

The P.L.O. withdrawal, which will continue for about two weeks, represented a personal triumph for U.S. Special Envoy Philip Habib (see box). Operating mainly from the presidential palace at Baabda southeast of Beirut, Habib negotiated over a 65-day period, with seemingly endless patience. He dealt with the Israeli government and with Lebanese officials, notably Prime Minister Wazzan and former Prime Minister Saeb Salam, who transmitted Habib's messages to and from P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat. As early as July 3, Arafat was reported to have signed a statement declaring that the P.L.O. was prepared to leave West Beirut, which by then was surrounded by Israeli troops. But countless details still had to be worked out, even as the Israelis shelled West Beirut again and again in the hope of speeding up the withdrawal. The Israeli bombardment killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians. But the ferocity of those prolonged attacks was partially obscured last week as West Beirut started to come to life again, and as the P.L.O. withdrawal began.

In Washington, President Reagan hailed the settlement and the "magnificent" efforts of Negotiator Habib in bringing it about. Said the President: "Phil never lost hope, and in the end his spirit and determination carried the day." Reagan confirmed that the U.S. had agreed to send 800 Marines to Lebanon this week to join a peace-keeping force, which will also include 800 French soldiers and 400 Italians.

But the President emphasized that the U.S. servicemen would remain in Lebanon for no more than 30 days, and would be pulled out before that if fighting should break out again or if the terms of the cease-fire should be broken.

A few hours later U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz held his first press conference since he joined the Reagan Cabinet five weeks ago. Shultz spoke of the importance of renewed efforts toward solving "the problems of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," and implied that he favored a recommitment to the Camp David peace process. In the meantime, Shultz continued, all parties concerned must negotiate the withdrawal from Lebanon of some 60,000 Syrian soldiers and 85,000 Israeli troops, as well as the estimated 20,000 P.L.O. guerrillas remaining in Lebanon outside Beirut.

This process will surely take some time. But as Shultz noted, he had recently been assured by Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir that Israel did not covet one inch of Lebanese territory and planned to withdraw to its own borders under the "right conditions." To which, Shultz said, he had sternly replied, "I take you at your word."

For more than a week, many P.L.O. fighters had had their bags packed as they awaited word that an agreement had been reached. A large number of the evacuees were expected to leave by ship for Cyprus, and to proceed from there to one of several Arab countries, including Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, North Yemen and South Yemen. Other groups were expected to be transported to Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Egypt agreed to take in some of the wounded. George Habash, head of the hard-line Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was thought to be going to Marxist South Yemen.

Yasser Arafat, along with about 1,000 of his Al Fatah commandos, was expected to proceed to Tunisia as soon as the evacuation was completed. He apparently had considered other Arab cities, including Cairo, as a new base of operations, but in the end is believed to have decided on Tunis, probably because it is the headquarters of the Arab League and because Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba had extended a warm welcome to him.

Step by step last week, the way was paved for the Palestinians' departure. On Wednesday afternoon the Lebanese Cabinet approved the agreement. On Thursday the Israeli Cabinet did the same. By that time, the basic timetable of withdrawal was set. Lebanese Foreign Minister Fuad Butros announced that a Lebanese force of about 3,000 soldiers would take the primary responsibility for maintaining law and order during the evacuation. That was fine with the U.S., France and Italy, which did not want their troops to become involved in any skirmishes that might break out during the P.L.O. withdrawal.

As the day for the evacuation grew near, the removal of the P.L.O. guerrillas and their families posed staggering logistic and political problems. Many were uneasy about where they were going; others were fearful about the safety of families who were being left behind. There were persistent rumors in Beirut that the P.L.O. was making efforts to leave gun men in Lebanon. One purpose: to assassinate any government officials who violate the guarantees to Palestinian civilians that they may continue to live in Lebanon in peace. After twelve years of exercising so much power in Lebanon, the P.L.O. was fearful that some of the thousands of Palestinians who were being left behind might be terrorized or intimidated by an avenging government.

On the Israeli side, as the negotiations reached a conclusion, the government insisted on the return of two captured Israeli servicemen and the bodies of nine others who had been killed in the recent fighting or during the 1978 invasion of Lebanon. But Israel also made several important concessions. In the beginning, the Israelis had demanded that the 1,500 or more Syrian soldiers in Beirut be evacuated along with the P.L.O., preferably straight to Damascus. In the end, however, the Israelis agreed that the Syrians could leave during the second week of the withdrawal to join other Syrian forces in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon. The Israelis had also asked that they be supplied with the name, rank and identity number of every single P.L.O. fighter to be evacuated. Later, bowing to the Palestinians' penchant for anonymity, the Israelis agreed to settle for a simple head count of the guerrillas as they were evacuated.

The final agreement, announced on Thursday, called for a ceasefire, a peaceful departure of P.L.O. guerrillas from West Beirut, supervision by a multinational force and participation by the International Red Cross. In addition to the Palestinians evacuated via Cyprus, another contingent would go overland to Syria along the Beirut-Damascus highway. Israeli forces would temporarily withdraw from the roadway to ensure the safe (and, in a sense, honorable) passage of the guerrillas. A Palestinian brigade attached to the Syrian army would also leave by land for Damascus. In separate negotiations, Lebanon agreed to allow the P.L.O. to retain a small diplomatic mission in Beirut.

The timetable for the evacuation was remarkably detailed. During the first four days of this week, guerrillas bound for Jordan and Iraq were due to leave West Beirut, followed by those headed for Tunisia, South Yemen and North Yemen. The evacuation of those going to Syria was supposed to begin on Wednesday and continue for several days. Later in the week, most of the peace-keeping forces, including the 800 U.S. Marines, were due to reach Beirut and take up preassigned positions, covering the port and airport areas. Early next week, Syrian troops in Beirut are set to leave the city. By

Sept. 4, the evacuation of the P.L.O. should be completed. On that day, all weapons and equipment left behind by the P.L.O. will be collected by the Lebanese army. Finally, in the six days beginning Sept. 21, the multinational force will leave Lebanon, its mission at an end.

The evacuation was planned in such a way that most P.L.O. fighters would not be obliged to cross Israeli lines. But U.S. officials recognized that the whole withdrawal would be difficult and, at times, dangerous. As one diplomat put it, "Every minute of the next two weeks will hold the threat of disaster." Speculated another: "You can just see some Palestinian 15-year-old getting in one last lick at the Israelis and blowing the whole deal sky-high."

Nor were those the only worries. The Israelis, or at least the branch of the Israeli government represented by Defense Minister Sharon, were obviously reluctant to allow the P.L.O. an easy passage to freedom, and would be watching carefully for any serious violations of the agreement by the P.L.O. Some of the Arab countries, such as Jordan, could yet change their minds about accepting Palestinians. Though he felt bound by his commitment to take in a P.L.O. contingent, Jordan's King Hussein can hardly forget the fighting of 1970-71, when the P.L.O. tried to topple him. The King feels stronger today and better equipped to control the organization, but the memories linger. He may also fear that a restless P.L.O. presence within Jordan could some day give the Israelis an excuse to invade his Hashemite kingdom.

In addition, the U.S. is uneasy about the Lebanese presidential election, which is now scheduled to be held early this week. The leading candidate is Bashir Gemayel, 35, whose family heads the Christian Phalange. Gemayel, who has a reputation for ruthlessness, is hated by Lebanese Muslims. But he is assuring them that he will protect their interests and that he wants to bring about a reconciliation of his country's Christian and Muslim factions. The U.S. is backing him because it sees no likely alternative. The Lebanese Parliament was supposed to elect a President of the country last week but failed to muster a quorum after rumors spread that Muslim militia groups from West Beirut were planning to blow up the temporary Parliament building.

Whatever happens from now on, the Lebanese crisis appears to have altered perceptibly the Reagan Administration's relations with Israel. From the beginning, Washington found itself unable to convince Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin that it was serious about stopping the violence. In early July, President Reagan sent word to Begin that if Israeli attacks did not cease, the U.S. would have to seek direct talks with the P.L.O. The threat seemed to work, if only temporarily. Two weeks ago, Reagan's fury over the ferocious Israeli attacks on West Beirut did seem to have an effect, but by then the war was almost over.

Throughout the crisis, the President tended to give Begin the benefit of the doubt. At one point, when the Prime Minister assured him that there was no military movement in Beirut, Reagan knew that three columns of Israeli tanks were advancing toward West Beirut. The President chose to believe that Begin was not lying, but that there had been a breakdown in communications between Begin and Defense Minister Sharon.

More important, however, the Lebanese crisis seems to have influenced Reagan's general attitude toward the Middle East. Before the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, he was by instinct strongly pro-Israeli. Now, says one Administration official, he realizes that the U.S. "needs very strong relations with both Israel and the moderate Arab states, and that this entails having strong disagreements with both of them."

What happens next depends in part on how well the evacuation goes. The Administration is convinced that it must move decisively and quickly on the issue of Palestinian rights. Reagan said as much last week, and so did his new Secretary of State. But at the same time, the U.S. must press for a further round of negotiations aimed at securing the withdrawal of Israeli and Syrian forces from Lebanon. The logical diplomat to head such a mission would be Habib. But, as Secretary of State Shultz noted last week, Habib first deserved "a good night's sleep." Shultz said that he didn't know whether Habib, who has had a heart condition for several years, would feel able to take on the job. Shultz recalled, however, that Habib had once told him that he "never says no to a President."

Whoever gets the assignment of working to free Lebanon from foreign troops faces a considerable task. Apart from the risk of open warfare between the Israelis and the Syrians, the Administration fears the possibility of a Syrian-Israeli standoff that would, in effect, partition the little country the U.S. is trying to help reunify. As Brookings Institution Fellow William Quandt, a former member of the National Security Council, puts it, "As long as Israel remains in the south, Syria won't leave the north. And as long as Syria stays, Israel will refuse to budge." In his press conference, Shultz acknowledged that the withdrawal of the two forces would take time but urged that the problem of Lebanon, as well as the problem of the Palestinians, be addressed swiftly and resolutely. With "the bloodshed fresh," said the Secretary, "this is the moment to turn our eyes from the problems of war to the problems of peace."

--By William E. Smith.

Reported by Johanna McGeary/ Washington and William Stewart/ Beirut

With reporting by Johanna McGeary, William Stewart

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