Memory and Creation / Lebanon
Chronology / 1984
82 events in 1984
The Army was deployed in Greater Beirut. The crossing points were reopened, thus unifying the Eastern and Western sectors of the Capital.
The parents of kidnapped and disappeared persons demonstrated and blocked the Museum axis.
The Beirut International Airport and the Port also reopened. They had been closed since February 6.
Violent confrontations opposed the Marada, President Frangieh's militia, to the Syrian Nationalist Party.
Talal Salman, chief editor of the newspaper As Safir, was seriously injured by a killing attempt. The Press went on strike for 24 hours to protest against this incident.
The Marada and the Syrian Nationalist Party signed an agreement in Damascus, putting an end to the 'war in the North'.
An rocket attack was perpetrated against the Soviet embassy in Mazraa. The 'organization of the sharp sword', an unknown organization, claimed responsibility for the attack.
A Lebanese hijacker captured an MEA airplane connecting Abou-Dhabi to Beirut, to protest against the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. He surrenders to the authorities after harsh negotiations. The airplane had 138 passengers and 9 crewmembers aboard.
Walid Joumblatt agreed on the return of Christians to the Chouf and Aley.
In Tripoli, a violent battle opposed Islamists from Sheikh Said Chaabane's Islamic Unification Movement to the Arab Democratic Party's Red Knights. A deluge of metal and fire hit the capital of the North. These fights killed 15 persons and injured 60 others.
The local authorities decided to close an Israeli liaison bureau located in Dbayeh, the last link between the two countries.
'There is no more East or West', declared the commander of Beirut. The unification of the capital seemed to have succeeded.
A catastrophe was avoided at the Beirut International Airport where an Air France Boeing 737, hijacked during its flight from Frankfurt to Paris, was authorized to land in Beirut. The negotiations with the Lebanese authorities failed and the engine flew back amid general confusion. It almost hit several firefighter vehicles that were parked across the runway in order to prevent the airplane from moving.
The exchange rate of the dollar reached 6.20 LP.
The rise of the American dollar continued until the end of the year. The depreciation of the Lebanese Pound was due to political as well as economic difficulties in the country. Besides, the government was profoundly divided and unable to meet.
It was almost hell in Tripoli, as combats continued between the Islamic Unification Movement and the Arab Democratic Party. 54 deaths and 150 injuries were reported during the 48 hours of fight.
The Army's chief of staff, General Nadim Hakim and eight of his companions were killed in a helicopter accident that departed from Ehden in the North. An investigation commission concluded that it was a simple accident.
Pierre Gemayel, head of the Phalange Party and Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and Health died from a heart attack. An official three-day mourning was announced, as well as a general one-day closure. (bio)
Joseph Hachem was appointed Minister of Health and Posts and Telecommunications in replacement of Pierre Gemayel. Malek Salam was appointed president of the Council for Development and Reconstruction. The mandate of Michel El Khoury, Governor of the Central Bank, was extended.
The Minister Selim El Hoss escaped, one more time, from a car bomb killing attempt in Raoucheh.
At the United Nations, the United States vetoed a Lebanese draft resolution submitted to the Security Council. This draft resolution requested from Israel, the 'occupying force', to respect civil rights in South Lebanon.
The participants in a round-table on Lebanon held in Lausane concluded that '15 billion dollars spread out on 10 years were needed for the reconstruction of Lebanon.' An international association comprising important persons from the world of economics and finance organized this meeting.
The fraud scandal at the baccalaureate exams repeated itself. The exams were cancelled in eight centers in West Beirut.
The ministerial 'conclaves' started in Bickfaya in presence of the chief of State. On that same day, Brian Urqhart, United Nations Assistant Secretary General, arrived to Beirut to prepare the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations regarding an Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon.
A car bomb exploded next to the US embassy in Aoukar. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack that caused 11 dead and 96 injured. In Sohmor in the West of the Bekaa, the Army of South Lebanon opened fire on a crowd gathered on the place of the village, killing 24 persons and injuring 96.
Richard Murphy, the American under-secretary of State visited Beirut as part of a regional trip in preparation for the Lebanese-Israeli negotiations.
The increase of the dollar took dramatic proportions. The green bill exceeded 8 Lebanese Pounds. The President of the Republic held a meeting in Baabda to deal with this crisis. As a result, a series of measures were taken to discourage speculators from contributing to the rise of the Dollar, and put some order in the country's economy.
Rachid Karameh delivered a speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations, in which he insisted on the necessity of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon. The Prime Minister reiterated his government's attachment to the application of all the resolutions of the Security Council, calling for an unconditional Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Nevertheless, the American President Ronald Reagan refused to meet with Karameh, for lack of time as he said.
Walid Joumblatt announced in Beirut the birth of a new coalition, the 'National Democratic Front', grouping, besides the PSP, the Communist Party, the Baas, the Syrian Nationalist Party, and the Arab Socialist Union.
Hussein El Husseini was elected speaker of the Chamber by 41 votes against 28 votes in favor of his predecessor, Kamel El Assaad.
Born on the 15th of April 1937 in Zahleh, deputy of Baalbeck and the Hermel since 1972, Hussein Husseini is one of the founders of the Movement of the Deprived, that gave birth later to the Amal movement. Then, he became Amal's General Secretary. He resigned from this post on the 17th of June 1980. He was one of the closest collaborators of the Imam Sadr at the head of the Movement of the Deprived, and Amal, as well as in the Superior Shiite Council of which he became a founding member in 1972. From 1972 to 1974, he headed the parliamentary commission of public works and hydroelectric resources. He became since 1972 member of the parliamentary financial and budgetary commission.