Fears of Sectarian Warfare

Supported by Syria, the Druze violently challenge Gemayel

Dawn was breaking when the first barrage of rockets and mortars crashed into the small town of Kafr Matta, about ten miles southeast of Beirut, in Lebanon's Chouf mountains. Although the area had been the scene of fighting for ten months as Druze and Christian militiamen battled for control of the strategic region, this time the target was different and the implications for Lebanon's future far graver. The attack was the first salvo in a new challenge to President Amin Gemayel's fragile government.

The fighting last week was not simply the result of sectarian rivalries. It was a show of force, designed to win a larger share of power in Lebanon's political patchwork, by the Druze, a small and esoteric sect with roots in Islam. Last month Walid Jumblatt, Druze chieftain and leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, helped organize a National Salvation Front with the deliberate aim of opposing Gemayel. The front struck an alliance with Syria and demanded that Gemayel renounce the May 17 agreement according to which Israel would withdraw its troops if Lebanon agreed to security and political guarantees. It has also insisted that the 1943 National Pact, which gives Maronite Christians the presidency and other dominant positions in the Lebanese government, be renegotiated.

Druze fighters followed up the attack on Kafr Matta last week with two days of intense shelling in and around Beirut International Airport. The bombardment hit a Lebanese army base south of Beirut and narrowly missed the Ministry of Defense and the presidential palace. Rockets landed perilously close to the headquarters of the U.S. Marine contingent that forms part of the four-nation peace-keeping force. Six U.S. Navy ships pulled out to sea as a precaution, and the Marines went on "Condition 1," the highest state of alert, which requires them to remain under cover.

Alarmed by the violence, President Gemayel dispatched a three-man Cabinet delegation to the Chouf to negotiate an end to the fighting. It included a Druze, a Shi'ite Muslim and a Maronite. The three ministers met with Sheik Muhammad Abu Shaqra, spiritual leader of the Druze community, and then set off, with their armed escort, on the return trip to Beirut. They were soon intercepted by Druze gunmen and taken to Jumblatt's home in the town of Mukhtara. Jumblatt was not there, and it was unclear whether he even knew of the abductions. Abu Shaqra sped to the scene and spent the night with the ministers to ensure their safety.

Next day the ministers were released and returned safely to Beirut, where they relayed a list of ten demands from the Druze to Gemayel. The list included a call for the resignation of Prime Minister Chafik al Wazzan and his Cabinet. Wazzan immediately restated the government's intention to send the army into any areas vacated by foreign troops, which could lead to a confrontation with the Druze when the Israelis conduct their withdrawal from the Chouf some time before October. But after an emergency meeting of Christian and Muslim leaders, Information Minister Roger Shikhani announced that some of the Druze requests "are justified and should be dealt with positively. Others should be studied."

The Druze attacks could touch off a new round of sectarian warfare. The leftist Beirut daily As Safir headlined one front-page editorial CIVIL WAR. Pierre Gemayel, founder of the right-wing Phalange Party and father of President Gemayel, declared, "Let it be war, and let the stronger party win."

The U.S. seemed powerless to influence events. The sense of helplessness was underscored by the lack of progress being made in the two-week-old Middle East mission of U.S. Special Envoy Robert McFarlane. A six-hour meeting with Syrian President Hafez Assad produced no hint that Syria would pull its 60,000 troops out of Lebanon. Nor did McFarlane make much headway with his suggestion for a mutual troop disengagement in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, where Israeli and Syrian forces are poised only 500 yards apart. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.