BEIRUT: Eight thousand troops of the Arab deterrent force … will move into Beirut tomorrow [Nov 14] in the second phase of the Arab peace plan for Lebanon… . Six thousand Syrians and 2,000 Saudis, Sudanese and Libyans will converge on the capital at dawn from several sides and take up positions between warring factions along battle-fronts. They will open up communications between the eastern and western halves of the city controlled respectively by the rightist and leftist militia during the civil war.

The war … began on April 13, 1975 when a busload of Palestinians was ambushed in a Christian suburb southeast of Beirut. There has been no significant military activity by peace-keeping forces since Syrian troops … moved up to east Beirut from the mountains, and observers believe this was caused either by the slow arrival of non-Syrian troops or simply lack of military equipment.… . The daily newspaper Al Safir said … that the hold-up in the peace plan was caused by the Iraqi military presence in Lebanon, adding that talks were going on with the Baghdad Government to avoid clashes between the pro-leftist Iraqi troops and the Syrians who predominate in the deterrent force.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2026