LEAD: Lebanon's main Moslem and Druse leaders, whose rival militias fought pitched battles on the streets of West Beirut only a week ago, announced today that they had closed ranks and had prepared a program that they would offer to the country's Christians in an effort to halt 12 years of civil war.
Lebanon's main Moslem and Druse leaders, whose rival militias fought pitched battles on the streets of West Beirut only a week ago, announced today that they had closed ranks and had prepared a program that they would offer to the country's Christians in an effort to halt 12 years of civil war.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Rashid Karami after he and four other officials held two days of intensive talks with high-ranking Syrian Government leaders in Damascus.
Also taking part on the Lebanese side were Hussein al-Husseini, the Speaker of Parliament; Education Minister Selim al-Hoss; Justice Minister Nabih Berri, and Public Works Minister Walid Jumblat.
Mr. Berri heads the mainline Shiite Moslem movement Amal, whose fighters were pitted against Mr. Jumblat's Druse forces in six days of major clashes in the Moslem part of the Lebanese capital. Gunmen Are Off the Streets
The Moslem and Druse leaders taking part in the new initiative were the same ones who had asked President Hafez al-Assad of Syria to rush thousands of Syrian troops to West Beirut to end the bloodshed.
The discussions in Damascus were designed to provide a solid political foundation for the security dragnet carried out by Syrian Army units, who have driven the gunmen off the streets of the Moslem part of the capital.
At 22 checkpoints that they and Lebanese policemen have set up in West Beirut, Syrian soldiers have been handing out leaflets, apparently in an effort to explain the objective of the Syrian intervention and to win popular support for it. At the same time, they have put up posters on walls along the streets, urging the public to help in tracking down ''hoodlums and looters.''
One leaflet said, ''We in Syria see the interest of Lebanese as the same as that of the Syrians.'' Another said, ''There will be no more snipers to destroy civilization and kill innocent people.'' #300 Reported Killed According to police statistics, more than 300 people were killed during February in street gun battles, other violent incidents and fighting around Palestinian districts here and in southern Lebanon. In the Palestinian quarters, the fighting has been between Shiite militiamen and guerrillas of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
A police spokesman said a car bomb with 300 pounds of explosives was seized today in the Barbir quarter west of the Green Line, which separates the Moslem sector from Christian East Beirut.
The bomb was dismantled before it could go off and the driver was arrested, the spokesman said. The man was identified as Rida Ahmed Zneit, a Moslem from eastern Lebanon.
The car had crossed from East Beirut and was to have been planted in a crowded area in West Beirut, the spokesman said.
The Moslem radio station Voice of the Homeland asserted that the driver had ''confessed'' that his instructions for planting the booby-trapped vehicle had come from oficials in the Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia. Christians Object to Deployment
Militia commanders and other Christian leaders have voiced strong objection to the deployment of Syrian military units in West Beirut.
In discussing the program prepared today in Damascus, Prime Minister Karami said, ''Agreement has been reached on a draft plan for political reforms.'' He said the program would be offered for consideration at negotiations with the Christian side.
A team of political and military experts appointed by President Amin Gemayel, a Christian, has been holding consultations with the Syrian Vice President, Abdel Halim Khaddam, on ways to bring about reconciliation among the Lebanese factions and re-establish unity in the Lebanese Government. The team is led by a former Foreign Minister, Elie Salem, who is now a political consultant to President Gemayel. For several years, Syria has been the main power broker in Lebanon, and sometimes the mediator between factions.
The decision to negotiate with Christian leaders is the first positive sign since Moslem and Druse officials and politicians began a boycott of Governments meeting led by Mr. Gemayel. The boycott was called after Mr. Gemayel rejected an earlier Syrian-sponsored pact for political restructuring.
The Moslem and Druse leaders are known to be pressing for an equal share in government with the Christians. They want the president's powers to be shifted to the Cabinet so Moslem and Christian ministers can exercise the executive authority collectively.
The conciliatory mood in Damascus today was not matched in southern Lebanon, where rival factions within the Amal movement fought each other today on the main highway linking the ports of Sidon and Tyre. The highway was closed to traffic for several hours.
A statement by the Amal leadership denied news reports that an uprising had occurred within Amal, Lebanon's largest Shiite militia.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. The confrontation was between supporters of Mr. Berri and supporters of a breakaway faction led by Hassan Hashem. Mr. Hashem, once the No. 3 figure in Amal, was relieved of all his posts during elections to the group's leadership a year ago.
In a statement, Mr. Hashem said his followers had beaten back gunmen who laid siege to his home village of Al Marwaniye near Tyre.
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