The World - News from March 14, 1989

Muslim-led troops bombarded Beirut’s Christian-held port in a new round of sectarian moves against air and sea traffic, security sources said. The port came under Muslim fire despite a conciliatory move by the Christian premier and army commander, Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun, who lifted a two-day shutdown of Beirut’s international airport. The rival Muslim Cabinet of acting Premier Salim Hoss ordered the closing of Beirut’s main port and Juniyah harbor, controlled by a hard-line Christian militia, in retaliation for Aoun’s ban on flights. The Christian crackdown on the airport came in retaliation for weekend battles with Druze militiamen, sparked in turn by Aoun’s blockade of smaller, militia-controlled ports used for bringing in weapons.