1.
GV Town of Zahle.
0.06

2.
GV Red Cross convoy arriving.
0.18

3.
GV ZOOM Shot-up car on roadside.
0.24

4.
CU Dead soldier in car.
0.30

5.
GV INTERIOR Broken windows inside hospital.
0.37

6.
CU Man on stretcher.
0.42


WEST BEIRUT:


7.
GV Ambulance through street with soldiers hiding behind wall. (2 SHOTS)
0.58

8.
SV Mortar firing, soldier running, mortar firing again. (3 SHOTS)
1.14

9.
CU Yasser Arafat shaking hands with UN representative Urquhart and taking to group.
1.38




Initials JS



EUROVISION TELERECORDING

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: INTRODUCTION: A ceasefire was declared in Lebanon on Wednesday (8 April) after heavy fighting in which at least 240 people were killed and 600 wounded in a month. Syrian troops of the Arab Defence Force (ADF) and Christian militiamen who have been pounding each other with artillery, rockets, mortars and machine-guns have interrupted the clashes. The Red Cross used the breather to evacuate 28 seriously wounded people from the East Lebanese town of Zahle, a mainly Christian area, which bore the brunt of much of the fighting.

SYNOPSIS: A convoy of 11 Red Cross cars carried medicine and supplies to the beleaguered town. the Syrians continued to surround the town and search all who pass through the roadblocks. Over 200 people died in the town during the eight days of shelling. A car carried out the body of a Lebanese soldier killed four days ago when trying to get to hospital. No one had dared move the corpse.

The town hospital took several direct hits. The staff described the bombardment as a holocaust and were forced to dig a makeshift cemetery in the hospital grounds.

In Beirut, the ceasefire was shaken by sporadic shelling in several locations. Earlier, two hospitals in West Beirut were hit by shells killing one person and wounding two. An Islamic orphanage in the same area was also hit.

The ceasefire is the 18th since the latest flare up started. Sporadic shelling and small armsfire have been reported both in Beirut and the South, but no major exchanges were reported on Thursday (9 April).

Meanwhile, United Nations envoy Brian Urquhart, had talks with Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat. Mr. Urquhart is directly responsible for the 6,000 strong U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Southern Lebanon. Mr. Urquhart also had meetings with President Sarkis and other Lebanese leaders. He is to report his findings to UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim.