Maj. Gen. Yehoshua Saguy resigned today as chief of military intelligence, an army spokesman announced. His resignation had been called for by the commission of inquiry into the Beirut refugee camps massacre. Another senior officer, Brig. Gen. Amos Yaron, cited by the commission for negligence, has been stripped of his command.
The army spokesman said Saguy would be replaced temporarily by Brig. Gen. Arye Ben-Tov until a new army intelligence chief is selected. Saguy had apparently hoped to remain in his post until a permanent replacement was named.
The three-man inquiry panel, headed by Supreme Court President Yitzhak Kahan, severely criticized Saguy for failure to provide sufficient warning that a massacre of Palestinians was likely if Israel allowed Christian Phalangist forces to enter the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.
Yaron, commander of Israeli troops in Beirut at the time of the massacre, was blamed by the commission for not taking sufficient measures to end the mass killings. The commission recommended that he not be given a front line command for three years. Yaron was relieved today of his divisional command but will remain commander of paratroops.
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