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- WORLD, Page 57World NotesLEBANONThe Panes Of War
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- Sixty-two members of Lebanon's parliament convened last week
- in Saudi Arabia, meeting outside the country to avoid being
- intimidated by Syrian troops, who have occupied Beirut for the past
- three years. The session's goal: to enact political reforms called
- for in an Arab League peace plan that produced a cease-fire two
- weeks ago in the six-month-old civil war pitting Lebanon's
- Christians against the Syrians and their Muslim allies. The meeting
- will continue, said one member, "however long that takes."
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- Despite occasional gunfire, the truce held last week, allowing
- a semblance of normality to return to Beirut. Its residents have
- watched cease-fires come and go, but one promising tip-off suggests
- this one will last for a while. The price of plate glass for
- replacing the thousands of windowpanes shattered by gunfire and
- artillery barrages quadrupled within hours.