Christian Leader Orders Closure Of Airport, Ports
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday March 14, 1989
CAIRO, Monday: Lebanon slid into its worst crisis since the Government split last September into rival Muslim and Christian Cabinets after failure among Lebanese political groups to agree on a replacement for outgoing President Amin Gemayel.
On Saturday, General Michel Aoun, the Christian army commander and head of an interim Government in Christian East Beirut, ordered Beirut airport closed. It is located in a Muslim sector south of the capital.
This was an apparent attempt by General Aoun to assert a wider authority in Lebanon, and followed his decision last week to blockade seven Muslim militia ports south of Beirut. The Christian leader has vowed to crush militia anarchy in Lebanon.
Yesterday, the Muslim Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, Mr Selim al-Hoss, retaliated by ordering the closure of the Christian-controlled ports of Beirut and Jounieh, north of the capital.
The tit-for-tat moves are widely seen as an important test of strength between the Christian and Muslim leaderships. There are fears that the increased tension might herald a new round of bloodletting.
Brief battles were reported at the weekend at Souk al-Gharb, south-east of the capital - scene of many such conflicts in the past - between Christian troops and Druze fighters of the Progressive Socialist Party led by Mr Walid Jumblatt.
Observers in Lebanon described the battles, in which artillery, mortar and heavy machine gun fire was employed, as some of the fiercest in almost two years after a period in which the broader Christian-Muslim conflict took second place to battles within the two communities.
The struggle for control of Lebanon's ports and the main Beirut airport has been a constant source of friction between the Muslim and Christian sectors for most of the 14-year-old civil war.
Customs dues from the main Beirut port, one of the chief sources of Government revenue, have been eroded because of the activities of rival ports controlled by militias.
These ports are used to tranship contraband, including guns and drugs.
© 1989 Sydney Morning Herald