WORLD : Peace Envoy Caught in Beirut Fire

BEIRUT —  The Arab League’s Lebanon peace negotiator narrowly escaped shelling that hit his hotel in a village near Beirut today in the first serious breach of the fragile two-day cease-fire.

But the brief shelling barrage in hills to the east of Beirut failed to deter the thousands of citizens streaming back to the war-ravaged capital in holiday mood.

Arab League peace negotiator Lakhdar Ibrahimi was awakened by the shell blasts that shook his hotel room in the village of Beit Meri and immediately contacted officials to stop the firing, security sources reported.

Christian military sources said 120 shells and mortar bombs hit the mountain villages of Beit Meri, Mansouriyeh and Ain Saadeh. Christian and Muslim sources each claimed that the other side was responsible for the shelling.