| Lebanese war chronology - 1977 | > back to chronology | |||||
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January 3, 1977 monday |
A violent explosion shook the district of Accoui in Achrafieh causing 26 dead and 70 injured. Shattered glass fell all over the streets hitting several vehicles. The death toll rose to 50 by the next morning. |
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January 6, 1977 thursday |
A particularly vigorous winter hit Lebanon. It snowed in Beirut, which was quite unusual. Temperature fell to 0 degree. |
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January 7, 1977 friday |
Regular Palestinian forces will have to leave Lebanon before January 13', announced a press release issued by the presidency of the Republic. |
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January 12, 1977 wednesday |
The collection of heavy and light arms continued while the government was helping the victims of the war and trying to boost the economy. |
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January 17, 1977 monday |
After 10 months of disruption, banks reopened officially without any problems. |
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January 23, 1977 sunday |
In Broumana and in presence of 25 delegates, the week of the Lebanese Forces was held under the sign of coexistence. This three-day seminar adopted the principle of diversity in respect of heritage and cultures. The seminar emphasized the need to solve Lebanon's economic problem using modern solutions. |
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January 24, 1977 monday |
The Government created an economic and social orientation body, called the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR). |
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February 4, 1977 friday |
The Government promulgated a decree concerning wartime conflicts between owners and renters. The decree stipulated mainly that rent contracts remained operative, while backlogs will be staggered on 18 months with no interest for all rents under 5,000 Lebanese Pounds. As to destroyed properties, there were three possibilities: reconstruct, compensate the renters, or give them shares. |
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February 8, 1977 tuesday |
Kurt Waldheim, Secretary General of the United Nations, arrived to Beirut. He declared that the United Nations would substantially help Lebanon and that the future of this country was closely linked the comprehensive solution in the Middle East. |
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February 14, 1977 monday |
The ambassador of the United States returned to Lebanon. Intense diplomatic activity was carried on in Beirut. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs started an official visit. The American Secretary of State met, during a visit to the Middle East, with President Sarkis in Beirut reassuring him that the United States supports the independence, unity and territorial integrity of the country. He announced a 50 million dollars aid to Lebanon. |
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February 28, 1977 monday |
A master plan for the souks of the old Beirut was submitted to the Council of Ministers. This project included the creation of a green front, an opening to the sea from the Saint George to Bahri, the construction of a port district around the first basin, the opening of avenues towards the sea, and the reconstruction of the souks. |
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March 10, 1977 thursday |
The cost of living had substantially increased in Lebanon. Meat, sugar, cheese, oil and chicken tripled since before 1975. Fares varied from a region to another due to the lack of control. |
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March 16, 1977 wednesday |
Kamal Joumblatt was assassinated He was leaving Moukhtara when he and two other passengers were killed. An ambush was set up not far from an Arab Strike Force control post. This assassination aroused a huge wave of disapproval. A call for a strike was immediately issued. The country was in mourning. Chief of the Lebanese left wing, leader of the Druze community, author of several political books, coming from a famous family in the Chouf, Kamal Joumblatt was born in 1917 in Moukhtara, with essentially an eclectic spirit. After he graduated from the Law school in Saint Joseph University in Beirut, he went into politics very young. In 1946 he was elected for the first time Deputy of the Chouf in the Parliament and three years later he was appointed Minister of Economy and Agriculture. In 1949, he founded the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party (PSP). Three months before his assassination, he had given up politics. |
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March 19, 1977 satruday |
An airplane was hijacked between Turkey and Lebanon. The operation began 50 minutes after a Boeing 727 on the Diarbakin-Ankara route took off with 182 passengers aboard and 6 crewmembers. Two hijackers forced the airplane to head towards Beirut where it landed at 4pm. The Lebanese authorities took charge of the situation and began negotiations with the hijackers. Ultimately, the passengers were released and the police arrested the hijackers. |
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March 27, 1977 sunday |
The Arab League decided to renew the mandate of the Arab Strike Force for another six months. |
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March 27, 1977 sunday |
A powerful plastic charge, deposited in the elevator of the Minister of Defense, Fouad Boutros, exploded destroying the upper floor of the apartment. |
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March 28, 1977 monday |
The Council of Ministers appointed Colonel Victor Khoury at the head of the army replacing General Hanna Said. |
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April 5, 1977 tuesday |
The officials were satisfied with the ongoing excavations in the heart of the city where the most damaged sectors were located, for they exhumed valuable Phoenician, Roman and Byzantine vestiges. |
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April 11, 1977 monday |
Colonel Sami Khatib was appointed commander of the Arab Strike Force. |
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April 16, 1977 satruday |
The Cairo agreement will be applied progressively. The worried Lebanese have been waiting for a long time for this agreement to be implemented. |
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April 23, 1977 satruday |
The integrity of Southern Lebanon will be jointly guaranteed by Syria and the Soviet Union . This was the message that President Assad transmitted to President Sarkis, following recent meetings between Assad and Brejnev. He also said that a Lebanese force should insure security in Southern Lebanon. |
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April 29, 1977 friday |
A meeting between the Syrians, the Lebanese, and the Palestinians was held in Baabda. President Elias Sarkis met with the chairman of the PLO, Yasser Arafat. The meeting dealt mainly with the evacuation of Damour by the Palestinians and the execution of the Cairo agreement. |
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May 3, 1977 tuesday |
Lebanon received about 110 million Lebanese Pounds from the EEC. |
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May 13, 1977 friday |
An Antonov-12 air freighter belonging to the Polish company LOT crashed in the forest of Aramoun. The airplane that was returning from Warsaw carried a shipment of meat and seven crewmembers who perished in the accident. |
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May 26, 1977 thursday |
The mandate of the Arab four-party committee in charge of the execution of the Palestinian-Lebanese Cairo agreement had expired, while the agreement had not been executed yet. |
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June 4, 1977 satruday |
The election of Miss Lebanon was organized at the Santa Teresa in Maameltein. |
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June 15, 1977 wednesday |
Charles Aznavour was the first star to come to Lebanon during the war. He sang in Byblos in front of a Lebanese audience trying to forget the nightmare of the last two years. |
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June 19, 1977 sunday |
After a 19-month interruption, horse races resumed in Beirut hippodrome where 10,000 turfists gathered. |
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June 30, 1977 thursday |
On the last day of its full-powers, the Council of Ministers published a series of decree-laws. The most important ones stipulated the revision of certain laws relative to the Lebanese University, the amendment of some press censorship laws, and the adoption of the mandatory car insurance. |
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July 8, 1977 friday |
An armed group took control of a Boeing connecting Beirut to Kuwait. Twelve armed men highjacked a Boeing 707 belonging to the Kuwait Airways company. 45 passengers, including the Kuwaiti ambassador in Lebanon and ten crewmembers, were on board. The highjackers claimed the liberation of 300 persons detained in six Arab countries. The next day, they set the hostages free and surrendered to the authorities |
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July 13, 1977 wednesday |
Dalida sang in Byblos and charmed the Lebanese. |
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July 21, 1977 thursday |
The ' technical Palestinian-Syrian-Lebanese committee ' met in Chtaura, trying to put an end to the hostilities in South Lebanon and find a settlement for the Palestinian armed presence in the country, as suggested by the Cairo agreement. This meeting was the first between Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians since fights stopped last November. It resulted from the recent meetings between leaders of these three countries. |
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July 24, 1977 sunday |
340 tourists made a brief stopover in Beirut. The Sol Phryne, a boat achieving a Mediterranean cruise, made a stopover in Beirut and its 340 passengers visited the capital for a few hours. |
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July 25, 1977 monday |
An agreement was signed in Chtaura. The technical four-party committee decided unanimously the following: -Approving the two plans of action for the execution of the Cairo agreement. -Entrusting the regular Lebanese forces and the Arab Strike Force with the supervision of their execution in all regions, including Southern Lebanon. -Starting the execution of the two plans of action on July 30, no armed elements will be allowed to circulate outside the camps. -Withdrawal of the Palestinian forces up to 15 kilometers north of the borderline with Israel. |
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July 30, 1977 satruday |
The Arab Strike Force deployed around the camps in Beirut, Tripoli, Saida and in the Bekaa region. |
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August 1, 1977 monday |
18 delegations representing several countries around the world attended the opening session of the emigrants sixth meeting organized at the hotel Al-Bustan. |
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August 2, 1977 tuesday |
The Saint-Georges Yacht Motor Club organized a water-ski competition, in presence of many foreigners; it was a come back of the Lebanon of yesterday. |
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August 3, 1977 wednesday |
The American Secretary of State, Cyrus Vans arrived to Beirut as part of a Middle East tour. He was welcomed in Baabda by President Sarkis. The meetings covered essentially the situation in the south and the American guarantees regarding an eventual Israeli military action in that region. Lebanese officials discussed with Vance the possibility of dispatching United Nations contingents to Southern Lebanon. |
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August 9, 1977 tuesday |
The Spanish singer Julio Iglesias charmed the Lebanese beauties with his beautiful voice. |
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August 27, 1977 satruday |
Although the collection of heavy arms was achieved, the Lebanese Front issued a press release, following the Ehden conference, emphasizing ' the necessity of spreading out Palestinians residing in Lebanon over the countries belonging to the Arab League.' |
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August 29, 1977 monday |
The Saint-Georges Yacht Motor Club organized an international water-polo tournament. |
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September 8, 1977 thursday |
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kurt Waldheim called upon all conflicting parties in Southern Lebanon urging them to fully participate in the efforts aiming at reaching a cease-fire in the region. |
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September 16, 1977 friday |
15 cholera cases were reported in Lebanon. The officials in the Health and Education departments recommended putting off the re-opening of schools to November 10. |
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September 20, 1977 tuesday |
While bombardments and fights were taking place along the border since September 16, Radio Israel announced that Israel had sent a warning to Syria, indicating that no Syrian troop movement will be tolerated in Southern Lebanon. |
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September 25, 1977 sunday |
Following efforts deployed by the American government in Tel Aviv, a cease-fire came into effect in Southern Lebanon. During the past few days, fights reached their maximum intensity especially in the Khyam region. |
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September 28, 1977 wednesday |
Demis Roussos was back to Lebanon to give a concert. 'I am glad to be in Lebanon especially after what happened', he declared. |
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October 2, 1977 sunday |
President Chamoun declared to 3200 new NLP members: 'We should not be misled by a fake peace'. |
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October 3, 1977 monday |
After having pointed out the unusual increase of the number of refugees on the Lebanese territory, Fouad Boutros, Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared to the United Nations: 'Lebanon pays for the mistakes committed by the others.' |
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October 9, 1977 sunday |
Charbel Makhlouf was proclaimed Saint of the Catholic Church during a moving religious ceremony that Pope Paul VI presided in the Saint Paul Basilica in the Vatican. Thousands of people attended the ceremony, including some miraculous Lebanese. It was a touching moment for the whole Christian community in Lebanon. The Lebanese Maronite delegation carried gifts to the Saint: markouk bred, wine, fruits from the Kesrouan, a partridge and a cedar. The hermit of Annaya became the first Orient Saint canonized by Rome. |
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October 11, 1977 tuesday |
The Bishop Elia Sleeby, the Greek-orthodox Metropolite of Beirut died at the age of 95. |
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October 17, 1977 monday |
Strong effervescence reigned in Nabaa, as a result of rumors over an apparition of Saint Charbel followed by miraculous recoveries. Thousands of sick people hurried to the scene. |
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October 19, 1977 wednesday |
A sensational hold up took place in the Kantari sector. Gangsters attacked a customs wagon and seized a 2 810 000 LP booty. |
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October 19, 1977 wednesday |
In order to deal with the economic recession caused by the two-year crisis and the unbearable increase of the cost of living, the government decided to help both employers and salaried. He raised the minimum wage to 415 LP and granted facilities to the employers. |
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November 5, 1977 satruday |
An odious murder was committed against Abdel-Hamid Ahdab. He was a strong defender of an inter-Lebanese dialogue in favor of an absolute allegiance to the country. The powerful explosion placed in Ahdab's residence killed his daughter and seriously injured him and his spouse. This criminal act was perpetrated against democracy, freedom of speech and reconciliation between the Lebanese. |
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November 9, 1977 wednesday |
Israel launched an assault in the South. An air and sea Israeli bombing of Lebanese towns and Palestinian camps claimed the lives of 110 civilians. The town of Ezzieh was razed. |
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November 14, 1977 monday |
During the last meeting of the Arab Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs that started in Tunis on November 12, Arab Leaders examined the situation in Southern Lebanon. They emphasized the necessity for an immediate and complete execution of the Cairo agreement. Israel informed Lebanon that it would not tolerate any Palestinian presence in the South. |
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November 15, 1977 tuesday |
The performance of Joe Dassin at the Casino du Liban conquered the Lebanese. |
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