On-and-off clashes cut off Beirut suburbs once again

Sporadic clashes between pro-Iraqi Palestinian guerrillas and Muslim Shiites isolated the capital's southern suburbs Thursday for a third consecutive day. The fighting broke out anew as israeli-supported Christian militias along Lebanon's southern frontier renewed threats against the Irish troops of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

Police sources said fighting with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades which erupted two days before, during an anti-Iraq demonstration, killed a dozen people, mainly innocent civilians, and wounded about 40 others.