Ignoring Cease-Fire Plea, Shiite Factions Fight on in Lebanon

SIDON, Lebanon —  Rival Shiite Muslim militiamen, ignoring cease-fire pleas from their Syrian and Iranian sponsors, battled in south Lebanon Monday for a third day, and at least eight people were killed.

Men of the Syrian-backed Amal, advancing under a hail of artillery and rocket fire, tried to retake three villages captured earlier by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, security sources said.

Hezbollah fighters, dug into trenches and fortified emplacements, repelled the attacks with heavy machine-gun, rocket and mortar fire and then tried to advance on Amal-held territory.

At least eight people were killed and 40 wounded, the sources said, raising the toll in three days of fighting to at least 35 killed and 150 wounded.

Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Mohammed Akhtari, had announced earlier that the two Shiite militias had agreed to observe a cease-fire as of late Sunday evening.

He was speaking after meetings in Damascus among Iran’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Mohammad Besharati, Syrian officials and leaders of Amal and Hezbollah, rivals for control over Lebanon’s 1.5 million Shiites.

The two militias blamed each other for the fighting in the strategic Iqlim al-Tufah region between the southern Lebanese port of Sidon and Israel’s self-declared south Lebanon security zone. Hundreds of villagers have fled the area.

An Amal statement said it would negotiate only after Hezbollah withdrew from the positions it had captured. Hezbollah said it was ready to start an unconditional dialogue with Amal immediately.

Security sources said that, although no positions changed hands Monday, Hezbollah appeared to have gained the upper hand in the fighting.

Hezbollah--trained, financed and equipped by Iran--seized the villages of Bouslayah, Kfar Fila and Ain Qana in a pre-dawn assault Saturday on Amal strongholds.

Security sources said Hezbollah took the village of Jarjouh Sunday, but Amal sources strongly denied the report.

The fundamentalist Hezbollah and the moderate Amal have waged on-and-off battles for the last two years. Amal, the largest Muslim militia, regards south Lebanon as its preserve and says Hezbollah should have no active role there.

Hezbollah, dedicated to fighting Israel to the finish, needs a foothold in the area to launch guerrilla attacks against the Jewish state and its security zone.