Arab FMs call on Shi'ite gunmen to pull out of west Beirut

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Top Arab diplomats called on Shi'ite gunmen to pull out of west Beirut and leave Lebanon's army in charge of security across the city on Sunday. Sunni Arab heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia organized an emergency meeting Sunday of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, days after Iranian-backed Hizbullah took control of most of western Beirut. The two nations are deeply suspicious of the Shi'ite group, accusing it of sidelining Lebanon's Sunni minority and being a proxy for extending Iran's power in the Middle East. The ministers issued a statement urging Lebanon "to immediately halt the violence." They are also expected to relaunch a January plan that called for the immediate election of army chief Michel Suleiman as a consensus president and the formation of a national unity government.