Muslims Urge End to Militias

BEIRUT — Leaders of Lebanon’s Druze, Sunni and Shia Muslim communities today issued sweeping proposals to rewrite the constitution and dismantle all militias in Beirut.

Lebanese Prime Minister Rashid Karami issued a statement on a “new national plan” drawn up by 12 Muslim leaders during an 11-hour meeting in the Syrian capital of Damascus today and Monday. The 12 agreed to collect all weapons and dissolve all militias, and to “rebuild a new army.” Never before have so many Muslim leaders made such an explicit call for a new constitution, but political commentators said much of the plan has been suggested before.