US officer in Beirut averts an Israeli tank crossing
| Washington
A US Marine company commander halted three Israeli tanks trying to cross American lines in Beirut Wednesday by climbing aboard the lead tank with his pistol drawn and ordering the Israelis to leave the area, the Pentagon said.
The three British-built Israeli Centurion tanks departed without further incident, the Pentagon said. The State Department called in Israel's ranking diplomat to express serious US concern about the latest confrontation, the sixth , between Israeli troops and the marines in Lebanon.
