BEIRUT: Eight thousand troops of the Arab deterrent force ... will move into Beirut tomorrow [Nov 14] in the second phase of the Arab peace plan for Lebanon... . Six thousand Syrians and 2,000 Saudis, Sudanese and Libyans will converge on the capital at dawn from several sides and take up positions between warring factions along battlefronts. They will open up communications between the eastern and western halves of the city controlled respectively by the rightist and leftist militia during the civil war.
The war ... began on April 13, 1975 when a busload of Palestinians was ambushed in a Christian suburb southeast of Beirut. There has been no significant military activity by peace-keeping forces since Syrian troops .
moved up to east Beirut from the mountains, and observers believe this was caused either by the slow arrival of non-Syrian troops or simply lack of military equipment.... . The daily newspaper Al Safir said ... that the hold-up in the peace plan was caused by the Iraqi military presence in Lebanon, adding that talks were going on with the Baghdad Government to avoid clashes between the pro-leftist Iraqi troops and the Syrians who predominate in the deterrent force.