A Step Toward Freedom

By Henry Muller

Gemayel takes charge amid hopes that foreign forces will leave

To the war-weary residents of West Beirut, the operation had all the marks of another invasion. Just before dawn Tuesday morning, armored cars and personnel carriers rumbled toward dozens of intersections in the downtown area. They sealed off three neighborhoods, including the heart of the commercial and banking area, barring all persons except doctors, journalists and food-store operators. Soldiers went from house to house, checking identity papers and searching for weapons and ammunition. By week's end the army said it had arrested an estimated 500 people, mostly for being in Lebanon illegally, and uncovered more than 300 tons of ammunition.

This time, however, the troops fanning out in the city represented none of the forces that have tried to impose their order on West Beirut in the past six years. They were not Israeli, Syrian or Palestinian. Instead, they were from the 22,000-strong Lebanese army, which since the 1975-76 civil war has rarely dared appear in West Beirut. Last week's security sweep was the most visible indication yet that the government of newly elected President Amin Gemayel is intent upon asserting its authority over the capital.

As the mopping-up operation went on, the U.S., France and Italy, which sent the 3,960-man peace-keeping force to Lebanon, warned the Gemayel government not to violate anyone's civil rights. But there were few complaints from the civilians. Said a senior Western diplomat who monitored the crackdown: "On the whole, it was a humane and disciplined operation." Saeb Salam, a former Prime Minister and a respected spokesman for Lebanon's Muslim community, welcomed the Lebanese army's assertion of control. Said he: "We have been through such a dreadful experience in the last few years that people want someone to take charge."

The roundup began only one day after Gemayel had reappointed Chafik al Wazzan, 57, a soft-spoken Muslim lawyer, as Prime Minister. In accordance with an unwritten 1943 accord, the President is always a Maronite Christian and the Prime Minister is a Sunni Muslim. Even so, Wazzan's appointment was a reassuring sign to Lebanon's Muslims, including the Palestinians, who are wary of Christian rule. During the siege of Beirut, Wazzan earned the admiration of his fellow Muslims for his defiance of the Israelis.

Paradoxically, another encouraging sign developed last week out of an act of violence. Unidentified gunmen ambushed an Israeli bus only six miles southeast of Beirut on the main highway to Damascus, killing six Israeli soldiers and wounding 22. The next morning, in apparent retaliation, Israeli jets destroyed a Syrian S A-9 truck-mounted missile battery at Dar al Baideh, 20 miles east of Beirut.

But by Israeli standards, that response was relatively mild. Israeli officials, who in the past have been quick to show that any provocation would invite massive retaliation, said that they attacked the site because they will not tolerate the presence of any Syrian antiaircraft missiles in Lebanon, not because of the ambush. The deliberately low-key response reflected what seems to be a subtle but significant change in Israeli policy. The limited action, many Israelis felt, stemmed from the massacres in the Palestinian camps in Beirut three weeks ago when Christian Lebanese forces slaughtered at least 400 people. The evidence that some elements of the Israel Defense Forces had collaborated with the invasion of the camps has had a sobering effect on Israeli society.

In Washington, Administration officials were mildly optimistic that an agreement would soon be reached to remove all foreign armies from Lebanon: some 5,000 to 6,000 P.L.O. guerrillas and 30,000 Syrian and 70,000 Israeli troops. Special Envoy Philip Habib and others were working on a detailed plan for phased withdrawals that will be presented to Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir this week in Washington. But many obstacles must be overcome. Last week Syrian President Hafez Assad informed Habib and his deputy in the Middle East, U.S. Ambassador Morris Draper, that Israeli forces would have to withdraw first. In the past the Israelis have insisted that the P.L.O. and Syrian forces had to depart before they would pull out. Israel, however, is unlikely to leave until it has obtained guarantees that its northern border will not be attacked from southern Lebanon. Despite the Lebanese army's activity in West Beirut last week, the Israelis have little faith in its ability to maintain security throughout the country. "It's not an army," says a member of Prime Minister Menachem Begin's staff, "it's a name." U.S. officials believe that the Israelis would like expanded multinational units to patrol southern Lebanon or, better still, a U.S. force. Says an Administration official: "The U.S. is an obvious candidate."

After reviewing his options with Secretary of State George Shultz in California over the weekend, President Reagan will become actively involved in the process of restoring Lebanon's independence. A few days after seeing Israel's Shamir, he will welcome Gemayel to the White House. In the hope of drawing Gemayel close to the U.S., Reagan may offer aid for the reconstruction of Beirut as well as continued material support for the Lebanese army. But the most challenging diplomatic task for the U.S. will come in November, when Begin is scheduled to travel to the U.S.

The attempt to achieve a quick removal of Syrian and Israeli forces from Lebanon has, to Reagan's dismay, sidetracked the Middle East peace plan he announced on Sept. 1. Admits a White House official: "Lebanon is the essential issue to get solved before we can go on with the rest of the peace process." The dilemma, as Lebanese Prime Minister Wazzan noted last week, is that Lebanon will never be truly stable and independent until there is a comprehensive settlement of the key Palestinian problem. And such a settlement, whether proposed by Reagan or anyone else, remains far out o reach. --By Henry Muller. Reported by David Aikman/Jerusalem and Roberto Suro/Beirut

With reporting by DAVID AIKMAN, Roberto Suro

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