Moscow Loses Its Immunity

(2 of 2)

Tawheed and the pro-Syrian militias have been fighting in the northern port for the past two years, but the battle for Tripoli that broke out on Sept. 15 has been the most destructive. Since then, entire neighborhoods have been razed in house-to-house fighting and by the relentless pounding of Syrian artillery. More than 550 people have been killed, and half of the city's 500,000 citizens have fled. The Soviet kidnapings occurred just as the black- scarved Tawheed fighters seemed in danger of being overrun by the Syrian- backed factions.

Syria's hostility toward Tawheed is rooted partly in the group's close ties to Yasser Arafat's P.L.O., which Syrian President Hafez Assad is determined to prevent from gaining a new foothold in Lebanon. In addition, in its bid to pacify Lebanon and strengthen President Amin Gemayel's authority, Syria wants to reduce the power of religion-based militias like Tawheed.

By Friday a tenuous cease-fire had taken hold in Tripoli, based on a nine- point peace plan worked out in Damascus by representatives of the rival Muslim militia groups. The meetings were brokered by the government of Iran, which is ( friendly with both Tawheed and the Syrians. The plan calls for the total disarmament of all militias under the supervision of the Syrian army, which will head a security committee that will assume control of Tripoli. Whether the cease-fire was the result of Soviet pressure on the Syrians was difficult to establish.

Still, the Soviets were taking no chances. On Friday they evacuated more than 100 embassy dependents and nonessential staff to Damascus, where they were to be flown back to Moscow. The bus and truck convoy that transported the frightened Soviets was guarded by heavily armed Lebanese Communist and Druze militiamen. A well-informed source in Beirut said that the Soviets may have trained some Druze fighters and now have a sizable KGB station in Mukhtara, the mountain home of Druze Chieftain Walid Jumblatt.

Whether Moscow's latest experience would inspire a belated interest in combatting terrorism on a global level was uncertain. It is more likely that small radical groups will be further encouraged to achieve their aims by launching attacks on the citizens of superpowers.