1.
GV & SCU Armed soldiers lined up, listening to an instructor (5 shots)
0.34

2.
GV Soldiers take cover behind trees
0.42

3.
CU Anti-tank missile (2 shots)
0.50

4.
GV Soldiers stopping a jeep, forcing the driver out, escorting him away
1.46




Initials CC/BB





Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: In the partly Syrian occupied Bekaa Valley in the eastern part of Lebanon, Palestinian fighters have been carrying out exercises aimed at stepping up operations against Israeli forces. An estimated 10,000 Palestinian guerrillas are entrenched in the Bekaa, which has been under Syrian control since 1976. Abu Jihad, deputy commander in chief of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) forces, visited the guerrilla camps on April 18. He said, that the Palestinians in the Bekaa were determined not to give the Israeli forces in Lebanon any respite. He announced an increasing number of attacks on the Israeli forces in order to force the Israelis out of Lebanon. His statement came ominously soon after the failure of the so-called Reagan-plan for peace in Middle East. The Bekaa has also been the scene for rising tensions between Syrian and Israeli forces following the acquisition by the Syrians of highly sophisticated long range SAM-5 anti-aircraft missiles. This was seen by the Israelis as a major threat to their troops in Lebanon.