Israelis will not postpone troop pullback in Lebanon

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens said his country would press ahead with its planned pullback from Lebanese mountain areas despite fighting among rival factions.

Speaking at a news conference in the Israeli Army spokesman's office in the hills overlooking Beirut, Mr. Arens urged the Lebanese government to increase its efforts to reconcile warring Druze and Christian communities. Diplomats in Beirut said the government had asked Israel to delay its planned pullback from strife-torn areas until a peace accord could be worked out. Arens rejected suggestions that Israel should help disarm the fighters before it left.