Truce in Lebanon Between Shias, Communists Holds

BEIRUT â€”  An Iranian-brokered truce between Muslim fundamentalist gunmen and Communist fighters held Tuesday, but tensions remained high amid allegations that kidnaped Communists had been tortured.

The truce between militiamen of the pro-Iranian Shia Muslim fundamentalist Hezbollah, or Party of God, and fighters from the small pro-Soviet Communist Party, was a result of efforts by Iranian Embassy officials in the Lebanese capital. Their intervention brought about the release Monday night of a group of 50 kidnaped Communists.

One Communist Party leader claimed that many of the kidnaped members had been beaten and tortured before their release. The official, Saadallah Mazraani, predicted fresh fighting, and security sources reported Communist gunmen from other areas of Lebanon were brought to Beirut as reinforcements.

Suhail Tawileh, a Communist official abducted during seven hours of fighting Sunday and Monday, was also said to have been tortured before he was shot six times and his body dumped near the St. Georges Hotel.

Meanhwile, rival Christian and Muslim militiamen clashed on the Green Line zone dividing Christian East Beirut and the mainly Muslim West. One woman in East Beirut was injured by sniper fire, the Christian Voice of Lebanon radio said.

Boy Dies From Wounds

A 2-year-old boy injured in a car bomb that exploded outside an East Beirut supermarket Monday died of his wounds, bringing to six the number of people who died in the blast, Voice of Lebanon said.

In another development, supporters of a small Nasserite organization fired rocket-propelled grenades in the air Tuesday to mark the funeral of Issam Al Arab, the leader of their Nasser Forces who was assassinated by a former bodyguard Monday.

The Nasserites forced a few shops to close, but a call for a general strike to protest the shooting was mostly ignored, police sources said.