The State Department today welcomed as a “positive development” reports that Israel has arranged a peace agreement between Christians and Druze who have been fighting in the Shouf mountain region of Lebanon and in and around Aley, a village on the Beirut-Demascus highway.
Department deputy spokesman Alan Romberg said the State Department had only seen the report of the agreement and could not confirm it. “While we feel that only the complete withdrawal of all foreign forces and the restoration of the authority of the Lebanese government throughout Lebanon can lead to stability in the area, meanwhile we would welcome steps which ease tensions,” he said.
Romberg added, “To the extent that this reported agreement speeds the withdrawal of all foreign forces and the extension of the Lebanese government’s sovereignty throughout Lebanon, we would view it as a positive development.”
The report from Khalde, Lebanon, today quoted the commander of Israeli forces in the Beirut area, Gen. Amnon Lipkin, as telling reporters that the rightwing Christian militias and the Druze Moslems have agreed to keep the peace and that Israel added its signature to the agreement. It followed heavy fighting yesterday during which Druze forces overran Aley village.
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