In a speech in Damascus Saturday Mr. Jabril said that guerrillas loyal to Mr. Arafat in southern Lebanon had been preventing other guerrillas from launching raids against Israel.

Nonetheless, South African security forces have been highly efficient in preventing guerrillas and arms from entering.

Earlier this week, in unusually strong language, Mr. Bush called on the Pakistani president to prevent Muslim guerrillas from crossing into the Indian state of Kashmir, where thousands of Indians have been killed in a 13-year-old insurgency.

The ostensible reason for Israel's continuing presence is to prevent Lebanese guerrillas from launching attacks against exposed northern Israeli villages.

The killings came as the United States was beginning a decade-long, $7 billion aid effort to prevent left-wing guerrillas from coming to power here, and the case quickly became the focus of a bitter policy debate about Central America.

In the past these divisions have prevented guerrillas from cooperating in operations against the forces of President Najibullah.

Israel has held the zone since it invaded Lebanon in 1982, and formally designated the zone in 1985 to prevent Palestinian and Lebanese guerrillas from using Lebanon as a base for attacks on Israel's northern settlements.

The killings occurred as the United States was beginning a decadelong multibillion-dollar effort to prevent left-wing guerrillas from gaining power, and the case came to symbolize the pitfalls of American involvement in the region.

General Geldenhuys said the South African involvement had also been intended to prevent guerrillas from gaining greater freedom of movement to infiltrate South-West Africa.

Sandinista troops burned many of the villages to the ground to prevent Indian guerrillas from using them as bases.