36 entries on 33 dates · the books disagree on 9
January 1992
January 1992: day not established
After the war · From the books
A budget with huge borrowing needs sets off a run on the Lebanese pound.
The run on the pound outlasted the budget's withdrawal; it planned borrowing of half of GDP.
After the war · From the books
Syria's vice-president Khaddam comes to arbitrate the 'troika'.
In January 1992 Vice-President Khaddam came to Beirut to explain how Taif should regulate the troika of president, prime minister and speaker: the first of many Syrian arbitrations, mostly his.
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February 1992
Saturday, 29 February 1992
After the war · From the books
The Central Bank gives up defending the pound.
By early May a dollar cost 2,000 pounds; the bank had given up on the pound after losing a third of its foreign reserves.
Sources differ: Peak rate: 2,000 (Hanf, early May) or 2,200 (Picard, 1992).
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May 1992
Wednesday, 6 May 1992
After the war · From the books
A general strike against the cost of living brings down the Karami government.
Karami resigned after the 6 May general strike paralysed the country and rioters, often anti-Syrian in tone, attacked the prime minister's office and property of leading figures. Rashid Solh's cabinet, formed in Damascus, called elections.
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June 1992
Wednesday, 17 June 1992
After the war · From the books
The last two Western hostages are freed.
Two Germans, the last Western hostages held in Lebanon, were released.
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July 1992
Thursday, 16 July 1992
After the war · From the books
Parliament passes a new electoral law for 128 deputies.
Mixing large and small constituencies, the law set 128 seats, not Taif's 108; Hanf sees Syria's allies as the gainers. Albert Moukheiber called it 'imported and imposed'.
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Thursday, 23 July 1992
After the war · From the books
A general strike against the elections; the main Christian forces call a boycott.
The 23 July strike against the elections held where Syrian troops were absent. The Patriarch and his synod led opponents, wanting no vote until the displaced returned and the occupation ended; the Kataeb, LF, NLP, National Bloc and some Muslim figures joined.
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July 1992: day not established
After the war · From the books
Hundreds of Aoun supporters are arrested for distributing leaflets.
Leaflets urging 'real independence' or a boycott led military police to detain young Aounists; some faced military courts. Amnesty International counted about 200 arrests by December 1992, citing ill-treatment.
Sources differ: More than 120 (Picard) or about 200 (Amnesty, via Hanf).
After the war · From the books
Army commander Emile Lahoud deploys troops to take back public property held by wartime militias.
Protests by Druze clerics and civilians, organised by Walid Jumblatt, blocked the army in the Chouf; the government gave way and left Beiteddine palace in his hands.
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August 1992
summer (no day in the books) August 1992: day not established
After the war · From the books
First parliamentary elections since 1972, boycotted by most Christians.
In Baalbek-Hermel Hezbollah's list defeated the speaker's, and with Amal it took the Shiite seats. Few voted: about 10 percent in Beirut and 6.5 percent in Jbeil, where one deputy won with 41 votes. The major Christian currents had no seats.
Sources differ: Turnout: under 20 percent (Hanf, provisional official) or 30 percent (Picard). Hezbollah seats: Hanf counts a faction of fourteen, Picard nine deputies.
\_this day in full
September 1992
September 1992: day not established
After the war · From the books
The Taif deadline for Syrian redeployment passes without a withdrawal.
In September 1992 Lebanese pressing for the partial Syrian pullback that Taif tied to a two-year deadline after the constitutional reforms were told the reforms, deconfessionalisation first, remained unfinished.
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October 1992
late October 1992: day not established
After the war · From the books
Rafiq Hariri becomes prime minister.
Hariri, a billionaire contractor and not a deputy, formed a cabinet of business people and technocrats in late October, centred on reconstruction. Within two weeks the dollar fell from 2,200 to 1,900 pounds. Berri became speaker that month; Jumblatt minister for the displaced.
Sources differ: Hanf's text prints 1982 for 1992, an obvious misprint.
\_this day in full
October 1992: day not established
After the war · From the books
Kisrawan has to vote again for lack of candidates.
Kisrawan's October by-election turnout was 20.9 percent, against 57 percent in 1972; the government had found one candidate for its five seats.
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November 1992
Tuesday, 10 November 1992
After the war · From the books
Speaker Berri hopes to see confessional elections end with this parliament.
Hezbollah took up the call to abolish political confessionalism, which Syria then tied to any future withdrawal of its troops.
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Thursday, 26 November 1992
After the war · From the books
Hariri wins a vote of confidence but not the powers he wanted.
Deputies refused him temporary decree powers and an end to civil servants' immunity, which Hanf deems vital to reforming the administration.
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December 1992
Tuesday, 8 December 1992
After the war · From the books
Syrian withdrawal is made conditional on ending confessionalism.
On 8 December Hrawi declared that deconfessionalisation would rest on consensus, Taif and the Constitution. Khaddam tied any partial Syrian withdrawal to ending confessionalism, and a Damascus summit's communiqué left withdrawal out.
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1992
1992: day not established
After the war · From the books
Demolitions begin in downtown Beirut for the reconstruction company.
From 1992 Solidere blew up shell-damaged central Beirut: part of the medieval wall, the gold souk ruins, Ottoman façades. Its 'tabula rasa' angered press and universities.
Sources differ: Picard dates the founding of Solidere to 1993 (next entry), after the demolitions Fisk describes in 1992.
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January 2001
February 2001
February 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
Christian opposition figures form the Qornet Shehwan Gathering.
Patriarch Sfeir informally led this anti-Syrian Christian gathering of the centre-right, whose members ranged from ex-president Amine Gemayel to Samir Frangieh, formerly of the National Movement.
Sources differ: February 2001 (Haugbolle) or April 2001 (Picard).
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March 2001
March 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
On a US tour, Patriarch Sfeir demands that Syrian forces leave Lebanon.
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April 2001
April 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
The 'Memory for the Future' colloquium breaks the silence on the war.
Amal Makarem convened it at the UN building in Beirut: Lebanese journalists, academics and lawyers met transitional-justice specialists from Germany, Rwanda and South Africa. Several organisers later set up the Association Mémoire pour l'Avenir.
Sources differ: April 2001 (Haugbolle) or March 2001 (title cited by Reder).
Art and memory- testimony Haugbolle's notes cite the 111101.net artist page and 111101.com: the artist Naji Zahar, he writes, started a war-memory discussion group in the late 1990s and later created 111101, an award-winning online memory database.
After the war · From the books
Rival demonstrations over Syria revive fears of war around 13 April.
Haugbolle notes that in April 2001 several newspapers wondered whether war could return: they reported ex-militiamen stirring in both East and West Beirut after rival rallies, some against Syria, some for the government.
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May 2001
Thursday, 24 May 2001
After the war · From the books
A national holiday marks one year since the 'liberation' of the south.
Sources differ: Abirached dates the anniversary 24 May; de Clerck and Malsagne date the withdrawal itself to 25 May (see the withdrawal entry).
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June 2001
June 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
Syrian troops partly withdraw from Beirut.
In June 2001, a year after Bashar al-Assad took power, some Syrian units moved from Beirut and its eastern suburbs to the north and east, while the bulk of the army stayed. Reported troop numbers: 25,000 after 2000, 21,000 in 2001, 17,000 in 2004.
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August 2001
Saturday, 4 August 2001
After the war · From the books
Patriarch Sfeir's visit to the Chouf seals a Maronite-Druze reconciliation.
Patriarch Sfeir toured the Chouf and called on Walid Jumblatt, eighteen years after the Mountain war; thousands of villagers applauded. Yet most displaced Christians still did not return.
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 2001: day not established
After the war · From the books
Hundreds of Lebanese Forces and Aoun supporters are arrested.
Reacting to the Maronite–Druze reconciliation, the security services detained anti-Syrian activists for allegedly plotting against the state, and plainclothes police forcibly broke up a protest outside Beirut's Palace of Justice. The cabinet and parliament approved the crackdown.
Sources differ: Hundreds (Picard) or 200 (Quéméner).
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October 2001
Monday, 22 October 2001
After the war · From the books
After Hezbollah strikes Israeli posts at Shebaa, Israel hits back with raids in the south.
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2001
late 2001 (after 11 September): day not established
After the war · From the books
The United States lists Hezbollah as a terrorist group; Beirut refuses to act.
Washington asked Lebanon to freeze Hezbollah's assets and disarm it; the government refused, citing the unfinished Israeli withdrawal.
\_this day in full
February 2012
February 2012: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Fighting in Tripoli between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen (February-December 2012).
From February to December, Tripoli's pro-regime Alawite quarter of Jabal Mohsen and its Sunni quarter of Bab al-Tebbaneh, which backed the Syrian opposition, clashed.
\_this day in full
June 2012
Monday, 11 June 2012
Since 2005 · From the books
The Baabda Declaration commits Lebanon to 'dissociation' from regional conflicts.
The declaration, agreed at President Sleiman's National Dialogue, pledged 'dissociation' from regional conflicts and border control, mainly towards Syria; Picard considers the promise empty from the outset.
\_this day in full \_on this day
October 2012
Friday, 19 October 2012
Since 2005 · From the books
Intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan is assassinated.
Seven people died along with Wissam al-Hassan, head of ISF intelligence and an investigator of Hariri's assassination, in a Beirut car bombing.
\_this day in full \_on this day
2012
2012: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Former minister Michel Samaha is arrested.
Picard treats the arrest as evidence that Syrian-paid agents took part in the unrest after the 2005 withdrawal.
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February 2017
February 2017: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
President Aoun tells the UN refugee chief that Syrians cannot stay in Lebanon for good.
Aoun told UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi the refugees could not stay permanently and the world must help them home, but Lebanon would force no one back while Syria was unsafe.
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August 2017
Saturday, 19 August 2017
Since 2005 · From the books
The army launches operation 'Fajr al-Jurud' against the Islamic State on the eastern border.
On President Aoun's orders the army moved against Islamic State and al-Nusra fighters holding the arid hills of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa, while Hezbollah attacked al-Nusra from the Syrian side, a rare tacit cooperation. The jihadists held out for several days before surrendering, and a truce let the survivors and their families go to eastern Syria.
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November 2017
Saturday, 4 November 2017
Since 2005 · From the books
Saad Hariri announces his resignation from Riyadh.
President Aoun refused the resignation Saad al-Hariri announced live from Riyadh; in the view of some Lebanese officials he was acting under Saudi duress and being held there against his will.
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Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Since 2005 · From the books
Hariri returns to Beirut and soon withdraws his resignation.
His return followed intense international mediation, especially by France.
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