Arab Envoy Escapes Lebanon Barrage
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BEIRUT — The Arab League’s peace envoy to Lebanon narrowly escaped shelling that hit his hotel in a village near Beirut on Monday in the first serious breach of a two-day cease-fire.
Syrian gunners fired more than 80 shells into Christian-controlled areas about 10 miles northeast of Beirut, security sources said.
Arab League peace negotiator Lakhdar Ibrahimi was awakened by the shell blasts that shook his hotel room in the village of Beit Meri and immediately contacted officials to stop the firing, the sources reported.
Witnesses said one shell smashed through the wall of the hotel where he was staying, breaking windows and spraying shrapnel into the walls.
The seaside highway into Christian East Beirut was jammed Monday with cars and buses--tents and bedding piled high on their roofs--bringing back refugees from the relative safety of remote Christian villages.
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