High Tension

As the confrontation over Libyan-supported terrorism continued last week, a variety of shocks and aftershocks rumbled through the Middle East. According to Lebanese military sources, Syrian gunners fired two SA-6 missiles at Israeli warplanes flying reconnaissance missions over the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. The missiles reportedly missed their targets because the Israeli planes managed to protect themselves by releasing deception balloons. Israel denied the reports, and there were indications that it may have already curtailed its flights in areas within range of the Syrian weapons.

In southern Lebanon, local Muslim guerrillas, supported by a number of Palestinian fighters, have recently pressed their campaign against the Israeli-backed militia known as the South Lebanon Army, which protects the security zone along the Israeli-Lebanese border. The current drive began late last month, when guerrillas backed by Syria and Iran launched the most concerted barrage of Katyusha rockets against northern Israel since 1982. Warned Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin: "If normal life is not permitted to go on in northern Israel, there will be no normal life in southern Lebanon--if there will be any life at all."

In Egypt, meanwhile, the case of Policeman Suleiman Khater, 24, caused further embarrassment to the government of President Hosni Mubarak. On Oct. 5, Khater shot and killed seven Israeli tourists in the Sinai, including four children. Khater was convicted by a military court and sentenced to life imprisonment, but last week he was found dead in his room at a prison hospital. An autopsy concluded that he had committed suicide by hanging himself, but after demonstrations broke out on university campuses and in the victim's hometown, a court ordered a further investigation.

Two weeks ago, Mubarak wrote Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres suggesting a meeting in Cairo at the end of the month to discuss the foundering Middle East peace process. One obstacle is the unresolved question of Taba, the 250-acre patch of Sinai Desert coastline claimed by both Israel and Egypt. Peres is ready to submit the matter to international arbitration, as advocated by Mubarak. His coalition partner, Likud Leader and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, would probably go along with him because Shamir is anxious to avoid a clash that could jeopardize his chance of taking over as Prime Minister in October as scheduled. Some Likud Cabinet members oppose this solution, which they regard as giving in to Egyptian pressure. But after Peres threatened last week to resign if a decision is not reached soon, it appeared likely that the threat of a government crisis would produce a consensus.