The World : Truce OKd in Lebanon

Lebanon’s warring Shiite Muslim factions agreed to end a nine-month power struggle that has claimed at least 500 lives, officials announced in Damascus. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati said that the truce between the Syrian-backed Amal militia and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah will be signed today. Velayati met with reporters in Damascus after daylong talks with his Syrian counterpart, Farouk Shareh. Cease-fires have been arranged in the past but were short-lived. This latest truce reportedly came after both factions handed alleged assassins over to Syria. Syrian officials in Lebanon said Hezbollah delivered the men it says assassinated Amal leader Daoud Daoud and that Amal handed over the man accused of killing one of Hezbollah’s leaders.