THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Lebanon Talks Begin in Geneva

GENEVA (JTA) — Lead-
ers and supporters of the
Lebanese government and
of the warring factions op-
posing it formally opened
their conference Monday,
under the chairmanship of
President Amin Gemayel,
aimed at national reconcili-
ation.
The conference will at-
tempt to resolve differences
that led to 10 years of bloody
civil war in Lebanon with a
death toll in the hundreds of
thousands. The differences
themselves in some cases
relate to centuries of strife
between the various Chris-
tian and Moslem sects in-
corporated into the
Lebanese state which the
French carved out of their
Syrian mandate in 1943.
Syria and Israel, whose
forces occupy different parts
of Lebanon — and the U.S.
which has been trying to
mediate the conflict — are
directly interested parties.

No conference agenda
has been announced. But
one of the major issues is
the fate of the U.S.-
orchestrated withdrawal
and security agreement
signed by Israel and
Lebanon last May 17 but
still not ratified by the
Lebanese government.
The leaders of the four
Moslem and Christian
opposition groups want
the conference to scrap
the agreement. Backers
of the Gemayel govern-
ment oppose this demand
to a greater or lesser de-
gree.

Pierre Gemayel, the 78-
year-old founder of the
Christian Phalangist party
and father of the President
Gemayel, backs the accord
to the hilt. Other govern-
ment supporters appear
lukewarm.
One of the most vehement
opponents of the pact is
Druze leader Walid
Jumblatt. Another, Nabith
Berri, a representative of
the Shiite Moslem Amal
group, told the Jewish Tele-
graphic Agency, "Before we
can start discussing Leba-
non's future, we must rid
ourselves of the past and
especially of the humiliat-
ing agreement signed with
Israel last spring."
Lebanese
Former
President Sulieman Fran-
jieh, leader of a Christian
faction opposed to the
Gemayel regime, suggested

that the United Nations
adopt resolutions to replace
the May 17 agreement.

Syria has long been
exerting pressure on the
Gemayel government to
repudiate the accord
with Israel and is ex-
pected to continue to do
so at the conference
where the Syrian Foreign
Minister, Abdel Halim
Khaddom, has observer
status. Another observer
is the Saudi Arabian
Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs.

The U.S. is represented
by special Mideast envoy
Richard Fairbanks who re-
portedly will be available
for consultation but will not
be present in the meeting
hall.
There is no official ob-
server for Israel. But
Lebanese sources said that
an Israeli diplomat, not
identified, is now posted
"somewhere in the Geneva
region" and has met with
the leaders of several fac-
tions.
The sources said these in-
cluded Jumblatt who was
clearly warned not to press
demands for a clear break
with Israel but to take a
moderate approach for the
sake of both countries. The
Israeli reportedly held his
private meetings at Mon-
treux where Jumblatt was
staying prior to his arrival
in Geneva.

Friday, November 4, 1983 19

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Swiss news agency did not
identify the Israeli repre-
sentatives.
The talks have been
hampered by the PLO's
internal strife. There is a
lack of communications be-
tween PLO chief Yasir
Arafat's supporters, now
surrounded by dissidents in
northern Lebanon and their
representatives in Western
Europe. The Palestinians
nevertheless claim they can
deliver the Israeli prisoners
safely if an agreement is
reached. The International
Red Cross has not been in-
volved in the negotiations.

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It was reported, mean-
while, that Israeli and
Palestinian representa-
tives have renewed their
talks aimed at an ex-
change of prisoners. The
Palestinians hold eight
Israeli soldiers captured
in the war in Lebanon
last year, Six are pris-
oners of the Palestine
Liberation Organization
and two are held captive
by the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Pales-
tine General Command,
headed by Ahmed Jibril.
The Palestinians repor-
tedly turned down an Is-
raeli offer to exchange
some 1,000 Palestinian
prisoners for their eight
soldiers.

According to the Swiss
Telegraphic Agency, these
meetings are being held in
Geneva. The PLO is repre-
sented by Samal Sorani, a
member of its executive
committee and Jibil's group
by Omar Shehabi. The

Finance Minister Yigal
Cohen-Orgad was said to
have threatened to freeze
funds earmarked for the
municipality unless this
was done.
The elections were an
easy victory for popular
Likud Mayor Shlomo Lehat
over his Labor Alignment
challenger Dov Ben-Meir.
But Lehat's party won only
14 seats in the 31-member
City Council to 10 for Labor.

The parties agreed to join
forces and could have gov-
erned without the smaller
factions.

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Likud, Labor Form Alliance
Following Tel Aviv Election

TEL AVIV (JTA) — The
new Likud-Labor alliance
formed after last week's
municipal elections in Tel
Aviv agreed to admit three
religious bloc members to
the coalition which will
govern Israel's largest and
overwhelmingly secular
city.
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after a prolonged debate
which reflected intense
pressure applied by the
Likud-led government in
Jerusalem. Premier Yit-
zhak Shamir reportedly in-
sisted that the religious
elements be included and

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