162 entries on 147 dates · the books disagree on 37
dates 1–60 of 147 next
January 1973
Monday, 22 January 1973
The road to war · From the books
Thousands of tobacco growers occupy the Régie offices in Nabatieh.
On 22 January 1973 thousands of tobacco growers seeking 20 per cent more for their leaf marched in Nabatieh and occupied the offices of the Régie, the tobacco monopoly, after years without results.
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May 1973
Wednesday, 2 May 1973
The road to war · From the books
Heavy fighting as the army rings Beirut's Palestinian camps.
More than 100 Lebanese and Palestinians were killed in two weeks of fighting that began on 2 May, when the army deployed around Beirut's largest Palestinian camps; the CIA called these the worst clashes since 1969. Uprisings broke out in Sidon and Tripoli, and Beirut's Muslim neighbourhoods filled with demonstrators.
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April 1974
Tuesday, 2 April 1974
The road to war · From the books
Left-wing union federations call their own general strike.
The leftist federations called a general strike on their own, after a big demonstration against inflation. Tufaro says it opened the way to the first real gains: peasants entered the social security fund, and Article 50 of the Labour Law, which let employers sack workers at will, was partly reformed.
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May 1974
Friday, 31 May 1974
The road to war · From the books
Syria and Israel sign the Golan disengagement agreement.
When the Golan disengagement took effect, UN troops stood between the Syrian and Israeli armies. Hanf concludes that Lebanon's border was now the only front open to Palestinian armed action, and that Lebanon, main arena of the conflict since 1970, bore it alone.
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May 1975
Saturday, 31 May 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Zahleh's young militia takes position above the town.
Tajammu fighters, from a Zahleh group of intellectuals and young men whose first leaflet appeared on 24 May, took the Virgin statue hill at the town's northern entrance, a front-line post watching the Saadnayel road.
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July 1975
Wednesday, 2 July 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Al-Qaa, a Christian village of the northern Bekaa, comes under attack.
Several villagers were killed and houses and fields burned when gunmen besieged al-Qaa, a Christian village by the Syrian border. De Clerck and Malsagne date the Christian exodus from the northern Bekaa from this attack. Amal fighters from neighbouring villages later shielded al-Qaa and other Christian villages.
Sources differ: Attackers: fedayeen (Tegho Bou Nassif), local Shiites (de Clerck and Malsagne), or Fatah, Saiqa, SSNP, Communists and a Shiite clan (Hanf). Dead: 5 or 7. Hanf places the attack before the Karami cabinet was formed (late June).
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August 1975
Friday, 22 August 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Pierre Gemayel calls for a secular state.
While holding that the Constitution and National Pact needed unanimous consent to change, Pierre Gemayel answered the LNM programme on 22 August 1975 by calling for a secular state: one personal status law and civil service posts filled on merit.
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September 1975
Tuesday, 2 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Fedayeen stab to death the Christian owner of a Ta'labaya wheat mill and his two sons.
At Ta'labaya near Zahleh, a Christian wheat-mill owner and his two sons were knifed to death by intruding fedayeen.
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Monday, 22 September 1975
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Zahleh forms a Higher Committee under its bishop.
Bishop Bassul chaired a new Higher Committee of Zahleh notables, deputies, merchants, Tajammu and Kataeb. It controlled donations and arms buying, organised relief and dealt with the fedayeen.
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October 1975
Thursday, 2 October 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Rachid Karameh presided the meeting of the Ç National Committee for dialog È at the Serail. The committee decided that all armed elements will have to back up from their positions before the next day and will be replaced by Interior Security Forces.
What the books addFormed in September 1975 through Syria's foreign minister Abdel Halim Khaddam, the National Dialogue Committee of some twenty leaders debated secularism and ending sectarian quotas; Hanf says it broke up empty-handed.
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November 1975
Sunday, 2 November 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Chuchu, the famous actor died from a hart attack. His real name was Hassan Alaeddine, the friend of younger and older kids was the most popular comedian on stage and on TV.
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December 1975
Monday, 22 December 1975
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Thousands of armed elements attempted to invade Zahleh
The army riposted and hundreds of shells, mortars and rockets, fell on the Town. Simultaneously, bloody fights were reported in Tripoli.
What the books addBishop Yuhanna Bassul's diary records 500 shells hitting Zahleh on the night of 22 December, with some 15,000 fedayeen gathered in the plain; at his appeal the army's Maghawir commando regiment came to help. Hanf writes that 3,000 men of the PLA's Yarmouk Brigade had entered from Syria on 20 December and besieged the town, which Syrian positions also shelled.
Art and memory- testimony Bishop Yuhanna Bassul of Zahleh kept a regular, detailed diary of the 1975-1976 war, issued by the Greek Catholic diocese in two volumes; most dated Zahleh events here come from it.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 20 December 1975
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January 1976
Thursday, 22 January 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the Palestine Liberation Army controlled the Akkar and the Bekaa with the exception of Zahleh, a cease-fire was concluded under the aegis of Syria.
What the books addTraboulsi, de Clerck and Malsagne, and Yara El Khoury date the Syrian-mediated cease-fire to 23 January. PLA and Saiqa units attacked Zgharta in the north but were repulsed, and Zahleh, besieged, held out.
Other date in the books: Friday, 23 January 1976
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Saturday, 31 January 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The 'Front for Freedom and Man in Lebanon' is formed.
Maronites including Camille Chamoun, Pierre Gemayel and Father Charbel Qassis, with the Greek Orthodox Charles Malek, founded the short-lived Front for Freedom and Man in Lebanon, from which the Lebanese Front emerged months later.
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March 1976
Wednesday, 31 March 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
US envoy Dean Brown arrives in Beirut.
Dean Brown recalled telling Maronite leaders that Syria, not American or international action, held the answer. Ford sent him to Beirut as envoy on Kissinger's advice; the US-brokered Syrian intervention took shape over his two-month stay.
Sources differ: Traboulsi's chronology gives 1 April.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 1 April 1976
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April 1976
Friday, 2 April 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A ten-day truce had bee decided, in order to elect a new President of the Republic after the expected departure of Sleiman Frangieh.
What the books addParliament used the truce to amend Article 73 of the constitution so that Frangieh's successor could be elected early: on 9 April according to Hanf, 10 April according to Yara El Khoury. The truce had coincided with the arrival on 31 March of the US envoy Dean Brown.
Other dates in the books: Wednesday, 31 March 1976, Friday, 9 April 1976, Saturday, 10 April 1976
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May 1976
Saturday, 22 May 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
First statement signed by the 'Lebanese Front'.
A 'Lebanese Front' had been forming gradually out of the Kfour meetings between President Frangieh and Camille Chamoun, Pierre Gemayel and Father Charbel Qassis. Its name first appeared in al-Nahar, under a reply to Kamal Jumblatt; next day a second statement named those three.
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June 1976
Wednesday, 2 June 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The residents of Beirut and its surroundings were living in the dark. The last cable supplying the capital with power had been broken. Daily life was very difficult.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel and Kamal Jumblatt meet secretly.
For an end to military pressure on Bikfaya, Bashir Gemayel offered Kamal Jumblatt full secularisation when they met secretly in West Beirut; Jumblatt offered to keep a Maronite president and a senate. Both opposed the Syrian intervention. That day the Lebanese Front, in its last statement of the year, asked Frangieh to coordinate with Sarkis.
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August 1976
Tuesday, 31 August 1976
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Christian militias form a unified command, the Lebanese Forces.
Drawing lessons from Tal al-Za'tar, where Christian forces had fought under separate commands, Bashir Gemayel set up a unified command council, headed by himself, with two members per militia.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the official founding of the unified command to 25 March 1976 (see addition 1976-03-25-lf-command).
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September 1976
Wednesday, 22 September 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Bechir Gemayel announced the creation of an army to defend Lebanon.
What the books addMénargues dates the formal unification of the Christian militias under Bashir Gemayel's command to 31 August 1976; Yara El Khoury has it announced to President Frangieh in early September 1976. According to de Clerck and Malsagne, 'Lebanese Forces' was not the official name until 1981, but the unified command was officially founded on 25 March 1976.
Other dates in the books: Thursday, 25 March 1976, Tuesday, 31 August 1976
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October 1976
Friday, 22 October 1976
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The effective cease-fire was a partial success.
Observers considered however that this result was encouraging after 10 months of fierce combats. But the situation could deteriorate at any moment given the unrest in South Lebanon. Bloody fights were reported between the 'common forces' on the one hand, and rightist parties within the South Lebanon Army (SLA) on the other, supported by Israeli artillery.
What the books addIn 1976 Major Saad Haddad's force was known as the Army of Free Lebanon; it took the name South Lebanon Army only in 1985. Agreed through American mediation, the 'red line' kept Syrian and other Arab troops out of the south, where Palestinians and Christian militias kept fighting and Israel backed Haddad (Hanf).
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August 1977
September 1977
Thursday, 22 September 1977
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The Maronite Patriarch appeals in Paris for a 'great dialogue of civilisations'.
Addressing Foreign Minister Louis de Guiringaud in Paris during an official visit to France, Patriarch Antonios Khraish asked whether Lebanon really had to be sacrificed to the Palestinian cause. He also urged a 'great dialogue of civilisations' to end the war and keep the country united and sovereign.
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October 1977
January 1978
Sunday, 22 January 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese Front adopted a coexistence formula.
Leaders of the Lebanese Front, gathered at President Frangieh's home in Zghorta since the day before, inaugurated their seminar which main themes were the national understanding, the project of Palestinians settlement in Lebanon, and the internal organization of the Front itself. Their final press release made it clear that the Palestinian presence constituted an obstacle to the national understanding and that Lebanon rejected any kind of union.
Other date in the books: Friday, 21 January 1977
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February 1978
March 1978
Wednesday, 22 March 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The first ' Blue Helmets ' arrived to the South.
What the books addFisk dates the arrival in Tyre of UNIFIL's first unit, Colonel Jean Germain Salvan's French paratroopers, to 23 March. That morning, at the nearby Hassan Borro barracks, Palestinians and Lebanese officers nearly opened fire over the handover.
Other date in the books: Thursday, 23 March 1978
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May 1978
Tuesday, 2 May 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A fight opposed the UNIFL and the Palestinians. The French barrack in Tyr was bombed and the commander of the French contingent was seriously injured.
What the books addColonel Jean Germain Salvan was badly hurt in both legs in early May, Fisk writes, when dissident PLO gunmen fired on the Fatah jeep carrying him, killing a French soldier and his Palestinian driver; Arafat called it a crime. Hanf adds that such losses made the French unit much more careful.
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Wednesday, 31 May 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A Sarkis-Assad summit was held in Lattaquieh. They discussed the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, the military cooperation between the two countries, and the difficulties encountered in the pacification process in Lebanon.
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July 1978
Monday, 31 July 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Lebanese Army units were dispatched to South Lebanon.
They remained there until the end of the year. Christian militias supported by Israel in the South stopped their advance.
What the books addHanf writes that Major Haddad's forces fired at Kaukaba on the units sent south in early August, men of the 'vanguard' Syria trusted, and drove them into retreat. Haddad later rebelled openly against the army command, and Israel took over paying his men.
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August 1978
Tuesday, 22 August 1978
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Raymond Eddeh called the UN Security Council to hold a meeting. The leader of the National Bloc declared 'My country is like a man that is sinking in a marsh and is being shot.
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January 1979
Monday, 22 January 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
One of the closest collaborators of Yasser Arafat, Ali Hassan Salameh, nicknamed of Abou Hassan, died in an explosion. The attack that took place in the Snoubra sector caused 11 dead and 17 injured.
What the books addAccording to de Clerck and Malsagne, a Mossad agent detonated a bomb in a Volkswagen as Salameh's Chevrolet passed. His wife, Georgina Rizk, had been Lebanon's first Miss Universe.
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April 1979
Sunday, 22 April 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
In a new episode of the vendetta opposing the Zghoriotes to the Phalangists, a massacre was perpetrated in Shmout, in the caza of Jbeil, where the Marada shot 11 Phalangist militiamen.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Attack on Nahariya; Israeli officers set up a secret bombing front in Lebanon.
Senior Israeli officers answered a Palestinian raid on Nahariya, in northern Israel, by creating the 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners', manned by Lebanese of several communities. Up to 1983 its bombs killed hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinians, civilians and fighters alike. Prime Minister Begin was told of it only in June 1980.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne attribute the Nahariya attack to the PFLP.
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May 1979
Thursday, 31 May 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
At the meeting of the Security Council, Lebanon claimed the reinforcement of the UNIFL. Moreover, Beirut requested the condemnation of Israel and the re-activation of the Armistice Commission.
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June 1979
July 1979
August 1979
Friday, 31 August 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr, a general strike paralyzed Beirut. For the first time Sheikh Mohammed Mehdi chamseddine accused the Libyans of his disappearance.
Other date in the books: Friday, 25 August 1978
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September 1979
Saturday, 22 September 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
President Elias Sarkis delivered an important speech, in which he emphasized the overriding role the army should play. Without it 'the State will be a body with no soul', he said. He insisted that the Arabs should stop to shilly-shally about Southern Lebanon.
Other date in the books: Tuesday, 13 March 1979
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October 1979
November 1979
Thursday, 22 November 1979
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
For the first time since 1974, the Lebanese celebrated Independence Day with showiness.
What the books addHanf writes that West Beirut's Sunnis sided with the Shi'is on National Day, which became a protest against every foreign armed presence; cedar flags hung all over the city.
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January 1980
Wednesday, 2 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The chief of the 'Iranian volunteers', Hodjatolislam Mohammed Montazeri, held a press conference in Beirut during which he reasserted his men's determination to go to South Lebanon to 'fight imperialism and Zionism.' And he added: 'We will come by thousands.'
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne have Iranian clerics and activists settling in the Bekaa, and then in Tyre, from 1980, before 500 to 2,000 Revolutionary Guards entered Lebanon in June 1982.
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Tuesday, 22 January 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Arab Strike Force withdrew from the road going South. This initiative surprised the authorities.
What the books addHanf places it in early 1980. Palestine Liberation Army units under Syrian or pro-Syrian command took over the Syrian posts in and near Beirut, while the Syrian troops, bar one garrison, quit the city's dividing line and the coast road to the south and redeployed to the heights above the capital.
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February 1980
Friday, 22 February 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Bashir Gemayel and Dany Chamoun present a joint plan in Jerusalem.
Bashir Gemayel and Dany Chamoun, summoned to Jerusalem by the Mossad on Begin's instructions, had been warned that Israel would find it hard to keep helping them unless they united. On 22 February 1980, a week later, they came back with a joint plan of action; the Israelis quickly saw that neither had discussed it with the other. They went home by sea, and Maya Gemayel was killed the following morning.
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March 1980
April 1980
May 1980
October 1980
Wednesday, 22 October 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
Chafic Wazzan was asked to form a new government, while Israel launched an air strike againt Damour. The aerial Traffic at the Beirut International Airport was interrupted.
What the books addIn Ménargues's account the appointment came on 25 October, after Damascus had vetoed Takieddine Solh and put up three candidates including Hoss; by picking none of them Sarkis disregarded Syrian advice for the first time in his presidency.
Other date in the books: Saturday, 25 October 1980
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Friday, 31 October 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese army evacuated Ain el Remmaneh and gathered on the Damascus road and on major Streets.
What the books addDe Clerck and Malsagne date Lebanese Forces control of East Beirut to this day; Ménargues dates the final takeover of Ain el-Remmaneh to late November. See the note on 27 October.
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December 1980
Monday, 22 December 1980
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Five Syrian soldiers are killed in Zahle; Syrian artillery shells the town.
In Ménargues's account an ambush inside Zahleh killed five Syrian soldiers; when the town would not hand over the culprits after six hours of shelling, it was pounded non-stop for 48 hours, until Washington deplored Syria's conduct in public. Hanf gives an officer and five soldiers dead, shelling through Christmas week and a real ceasefire only weeks later.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne date the Syrian bombardment to 21 December (stored entry 415), Ménargues to 22 December onwards. End of the shelling: 26 December (entry 415), after about 48 hours (Ménargues), or an effective ceasefire only weeks later (Hanf).
Other date in the books: Sunday, 21 December 1980
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Wednesday, 31 December 1980
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A Syrian-Israeli air fight took place in the Lebanese sky. Damascus admited that its two Migs were hit and that two Israeli airplanes were shot down. Tel-Aviv denied this information.
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January 1981
Saturday, 31 January 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
A violent storm hit Lebanon.
50 cars were totally stuck between Sofar and Mdeirej and their occupants spent the night in their vehicles. The Army was able to rescue 200 persons in the mountain.
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March 1981
Tuesday, 31 March 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syrian fire on a Lebanese Forces road crew above Zahleh sets off the battle.
Within two days of 31 March fighting had spread around Zahleh. It began when Syrian troops hit a bulldozer at work on a Lebanese Forces position with a rocket; the militia fired back, and a Syrian assault on a key LF position failed.
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April 1981
Thursday, 2 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The Lebanese will remember this date for long time. Violence brought back to Beirut the darkest experiences of 1975-1976. Blind bombardments targeted the Eastern and Western sectors of the capital. Thousands of students were trapped in their schools and the population panicked. There were heavy casualties: 50 persons died and more than 200 were wounded.
What the books addHistorians date the battle of Zahleh from this day, when Lebanese Forces fighters beat off a Syrian attack on the town and a siege of some 90 days began. Ménargues says Syrian heavy guns killed 50 and wounded over 200 that day in Zahleh and the Christian zone north of Beirut.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
The battle of Zahleh begins.
From December 1980 the Syrian army held positions on the edge of Zahleh. Lebanese Forces fighters in the town repulsed its attack, and a siege of roughly 90 days followed, which Bashir Gemayel portrayed as a fight for 'the last Christian town' of the East.
Sources differ: Ménargues ends the siege on 30 June 1981 and Fisk by 1 July; de Clerck & Malsagne (p. 80) place the end of hostilities in May–June.
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Wednesday, 22 April 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
The nightmare continued. The Lebanese authorities were completely powerless to stop the violence and the conflicting parties were unable to reach an agreement. The Beirut International Airport was closed to traffic and both dead and wounded victims continued to shed their blood on this agonizing Lebanese land.
What the books addAccording to Ménargues, Bashir Gemayel answered the collapse of a cease-fire on 22 April, which left 140 dead or wounded in Beirut within hours, by having the international airport shelled. On 11 May US ambassador John Gunther Dean urged the Lebanese Forces, via Alfred Madi, to let it reopen; that evening they dropped their objection.
Other date in the books: Monday, 11 May 1981
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Abbot Boulos Naaman meets Khaddam in Damascus.
Syrian Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam spent three hours with Abbot Boulos Naaman, superior of the Maronite monks and a steadfast backer of Bashir Gemayel. Their list of issues to settle included a cease-fire, talks with the Kataeb, ending ties with Israel and food for Zahleh, but never the Arab Deterrent Force's mandate. The Beirut cease-fire collapsed during their meeting.
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May 1981
Friday, 22 May 1981
The Lebanese war · 111101 entry in the original chronology
While the US envoy Philip Habib continued his trips between the different belligerents, the missile question seemed to be far from being settled as the parties concerned toughened their positions.
The Lebanese war · Added from the books
Syrian missiles shoot down two Israeli drones over the Bekaa.
On 22 May Syrian missiles downed two Israeli reconnaissance drones over the Bekaa. Others were lost on 14, 19 and 25 May, and the SAMs became a theme of Israel's election campaign.
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dates 1–60 of 147 next
