Elie Hobeika

A bomb exploded at a Lebanese archbishop's residence, killing a militiaman and injuring 32 people, including Christian militia leader Elie Hobeika, police reported. According to police, the explosion in Zahlah, 30 miles east of Beirut, slightly injured Hobeika and critically wounded the Greek Catholic archbishop of eastern Lebanon, Msgr. Andre Haddad.

A former Lebanese militia leader linked to the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian refugees in 1982 was killed in a car bombing in Beirut on Thursday, leaving behind a trail of enemies and a long list of possible suspects--including an allegation that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was behind the hit.

President Amin Gemayel's forces Thursday fought tank and artillery battles with Syrian-backed militias near the Christian president's mountain stronghold northeast of Beirut. Fears of a bloody new round of fighting in the 11-year-old civil conflict sent the Lebanese pound to record lows against foreign currencies, and one banker said the country is rapidly approaching total economic collapse.

A bomb exploded at a Lebanese archbishop's residence, killing a militiaman and injuring 32 people, including Christian militia leader Elie Hobeika, police reported. According to police, the explosion in Zahlah, 30 miles east of Beirut, slightly injured Hobeika and critically wounded the Greek Catholic archbishop of eastern Lebanon, Msgr. Andre Haddad.

A car bomb explosion Saturday killed five people and injured 42 near an office of President Amin Gemayel's Falangist Party in Christian East Beirut, police said, and four French television crewmen were kidnaped by gunmen in Muslim West Beirut. The car bomb exploded at 1:15 p.m. in a street crowded with shoppers in the Ashrafiyeh district, police said. It damaged the Falangist office, on the first floor of a six-story building, and set 35 cars and a gas station afire.

Lebanese President Amin Gemayel ended two days of talks with the Syrian leadership Friday without pledging support for the Lebanese peace agreement that was signed last week. It was not clear from statements issued to the press by the Syrians and the Lebanese whether the 43-year-old Christian president had openly opposed the peace plan in the face of Syrian pressure to go along with it.

The Lebanese Forces, the nation's main Christian rightist militia coalition, Saturday cut its ties with Israel, apparently making a bid for peace with its Muslim foes and seemingly offering an olive branch to Syria, as well. Elie Hobeika, leader of the Falangist-dominated organization, announced that he is shutting its liaison office in Jerusalem.

At least 27 people were killed and more than 100 wounded Tuesday when a car bomb exploded in a Christian neighborhood of East Beirut. The explosion set fire to a seven-story office building, blew in the fronts of dozens of shops on the busy commercial street and crushed 20 cars like toys. A police bomb expert said the Mercedes-Benz 250 that was used in the explosion contained about 550 pounds of plastic explosive.

President Amin Gemayel's militia defeated pro-Syrian Christian rivals Wednesday in a showdown that killed 100 people, and hours later, Muslim forces backed by Syria attacked Lebanon's Christian heartland. The attack on Christian territory north and east of Beirut was seen as the Syrian response to Gemayel's victory in a 10-hour showdown with tanks, artillery and gunboats. Gemayel has balked at a Syrian-brokered peace plan for Lebanon.

The tranquility and self-confident air of Bikfaya finally has been shattered. An hour's drive northeast of Beirut, Bikfaya is a mountain village, one of Lebanon's oldest. The stately stone houses with the green and red shutters and pine trees by the front door are now mostly deserted. Nearly all of the shops are shuttered. The town is the ancestral home of President Amin Gemayel and is regarded as a symbol of Maronite Christian power in Lebanon.

A car bomb explosion Saturday killed five people and injured 42 near an office of President Amin Gemayel's Falangist Party in Christian East Beirut, police said, and four French television crewmen were kidnaped by gunmen in Muslim West Beirut. The car bomb exploded at 1:15 p.m. in a street crowded with shoppers in the Ashrafiyeh district, police said. It damaged the Falangist office, on the first floor of a six-story building, and set 35 cars and a gas station afire.

The tranquility and self-confident air of Bikfaya finally has been shattered. An hour's drive northeast of Beirut, Bikfaya is a mountain village, one of Lebanon's oldest. The stately stone houses with the green and red shutters and pine trees by the front door are now mostly deserted. Nearly all of the shops are shuttered. The town is the ancestral home of President Amin Gemayel and is regarded as a symbol of Maronite Christian power in Lebanon.

President Amin Gemayel's forces Thursday fought tank and artillery battles with Syrian-backed militias near the Christian president's mountain stronghold northeast of Beirut. Fears of a bloody new round of fighting in the 11-year-old civil conflict sent the Lebanese pound to record lows against foreign currencies, and one banker said the country is rapidly approaching total economic collapse.

At least 27 people were killed and more than 100 wounded Tuesday when a car bomb exploded in a Christian neighborhood of East Beirut. The explosion set fire to a seven-story office building, blew in the fronts of dozens of shops on the busy commercial street and crushed 20 cars like toys. A police bomb expert said the Mercedes-Benz 250 that was used in the explosion contained about 550 pounds of plastic explosive.

President Amin Gemayel's militia defeated pro-Syrian Christian rivals Wednesday in a showdown that killed 100 people, and hours later, Muslim forces backed by Syria attacked Lebanon's Christian heartland. The attack on Christian territory north and east of Beirut was seen as the Syrian response to Gemayel's victory in a 10-hour showdown with tanks, artillery and gunboats. Gemayel has balked at a Syrian-brokered peace plan for Lebanon.

Lebanese President Amin Gemayel ended two days of talks with the Syrian leadership Friday without pledging support for the Lebanese peace agreement that was signed last week. It was not clear from statements issued to the press by the Syrians and the Lebanese whether the 43-year-old Christian president had openly opposed the peace plan in the face of Syrian pressure to go along with it.

A former Lebanese militia leader linked to the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian refugees in 1982 was killed in a car bombing in Beirut on Thursday, leaving behind a trail of enemies and a long list of possible suspects--including an allegation that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was behind the hit.

The Lebanese Forces, the nation's main Christian rightist militia coalition, Saturday cut its ties with Israel, apparently making a bid for peace with its Muslim foes and seemingly offering an olive branch to Syria, as well. Elie Hobeika, leader of the Falangist-dominated organization, announced that he is shutting its liaison office in Jerusalem.