World

Lebanon: Israel Allies Retreat

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

June 1, 1999 / 6:55 AM EDT / CBS

Under fire from guerrillas, tanks and troops from the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia began withdrawing Monday from a mountain resort in the first major retreat in south Lebanon in 14 years. The withdrawal is widely seen as a litmus test for a promised Israeli withdrawal from its "security zone" in southern Lebanon.

As SLA tanks and armored personnel carriers left positions under cover of darkness, Hezbollah guerillas continued their attacks.

Early Tuesday, two bombs exploded on the road to Kfar Houna, southeast of the town, security officials reported. One SLA militiaman was killed and another wounded. Later, a bomb exploded close to a car near the SLA headquarters in Jezzine, killing a member of the SLA-run civil administration.

In response, Israeli warplanes struck suspected guerrilla hideouts and infiltration trails in an area near Jezzine early Tuesday. Three hours later, Israeli jets returned to fire three more missiles at hills near Jbaa village, in a Hezbollah stronghold facing the occupied zone.

Earlier in Marjayoun, the main town in the Israeli-occupied zone, the commander of the 2,500-member SLA, Antoine Lahd, said he was withdrawing because his troops in Jezzine "could no longer endure more slow deaths." The pullout will be completed by mid-June, he said.

The retreat comes after Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak promised during his election campaign to get Israel's 1,500 troops out of south Lebanon within a year.

Outgoing Defense Minister Moshe Arens stressed Monday that the pullout was not the prelude to an Israeli withdrawal. But Matan Vilnai, a former deputy chief of staff close to Barak, said Jezzine could "serve as a litmus test for what is to come."

Jezzine, a largely Christian town where the former population of 25,000 has dwindled to fewer than 5,000, lies just north of the zone held by Israel. A total of 155 SLA militiamen have been killed while holding the town and surrounding villages for the past 14 years. During that time, more than half the SLA fighters stationed there have surrendered to the Lebanese government.

Overnight, SLA troops moved out of a barracks and several villages west of Jezzine, leaving only some positions inside the town to be removed in coming days.

As they retreated before dawn Tuesday, militiamen fired machine guns and tracer bullets ahead of them, combing the hills above the withdrawal route. Tanks fired into the hills above to cover the pullback.

For years, the Lebanese government and the Hezbollah guerrillas have considered the SLA militiamen traitors subject to prosecution, including death sentences and prison terms.

On Sunday, the head of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, promised that his Shiite Muslim guerrillas would not enter Jezzine when the SLA withdrawal is complete. They will, however, continue launching attacks on Israeli and SLA positions from areas around Jezzine, Nasrallah said.

Gripped by mounting casualties and growing political pressure to quit southern Lebanon, Israel has indicated it would pull out if the Lebanese army would deploy in its place to prevent cross-border guerilla attacks.

But Lebanese parliamentary deputies say Prime Minister Selim al-Hoss fears that a Lebanese army advance into Jezzine could be interpreted as caving in to Israel's demands.

Under pressure from Syria -- which has 35,000 troops in Lebanon - Beirut has insisted that Israel pull out of Lebanon unconditionally. Syria is widely thought to view Israel's casualties in Lebanon as a means to pressure the Jewish State into a comprehensive peace deal that would include withdrawal from the Golan Heights.