lebanese war
chronology
1975/1990
\_by Phases
\_by Dates
\_Search

40 news for the 2nd, 8th of January, February, May, September, December

with the books
May 8, 1976saturday
Elias Sarkis, the 52 years old Central Bank Governor, was elected President of the Republic at the second ballot by a majority of 66 votes out of 69 attending deputies. The election took place in a tense atmosphere at the villa Esseily-Hussein Mansour, which was turned into a temporary Parliament around which mortar shells were falling. Lebanese leftist parties were opposed to the elections.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf and Ménargues count 66 votes for Sarkis out of 69 cast; de Clerck and Malsagne give 70. National Movement and PLO mortars fired as deputies, escorted by Saiqa, PLA or Syrian troops, met at the Villa Mansour on the demarcation line. Votes were reportedly bought, by Syria (de Clerck and Malsagne) or with Saudi and CIA money (Traboulsi). Sarkis was sworn in only on 23 September.

February 8, 1977tuesday
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.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 8, 1977thursday
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.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 2, 1978thursday
Michel Sardou caused the walls at the Casino du Liban to vibrate.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 2, 1978tuesday
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.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Colonel 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.

December 8, 1978friday
A serious incident was reported in Jounieh.
A Phalangist leader, Elie Hobeika, was arrested at an army checkpoint in Nahr el Kalb. The incident degenerated into fights and the entire region flared up. A helicopter transporting Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors and flying over the region was hit by submachine-gun shots. The Saudi ambassador was injured.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Ménargues writes that when the Moukafaha, Johnny Abdo's own intervention unit, arrested Elie Hobeika for allegedly having the Saudi ambassador's helicopter fired on, Bashir Gemayel had about a hundred army officers abducted; they were traded for Hobeika three weeks later.

January 8, 1979monday
The bad weather provoked considerable damages.
Following strong showers during the weekend in the North, landslides made several routes impracticable whereas, for the first time in twenty years, a flood was reported in Nahr El Kebir, which constitutes the Northern frontier between Lebanon and Syria. The El Arida metallic bridge collapsed.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 8, 1979tuesday
Power cuts became more and more frequent in the country. The Director of the Electricité du Liban recommended to the population to save power.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 8, 1979saturday
Dalida fascinated her fans at the Piccadilly. September 11
A confrontation between the Phalangists and the Tachnag (Armenian militia) caused 24 dead, 30 wounded and 40 hostages in Nabaa and Bourj Hammoud.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Dalida also sang at the new Summerland hotel in Jnah in September 1979 (de Clerck and Malsagne). The Kataeb-Tashnag clashes of 11 September belong to a series: Hanf records hostilities in May and September 1979, settled amicably; de Clerck and Malsagne date fighting to November; Traboulsi says that in 1978-1979 the Phalange and Chamoun's Tigers gradually subdued the Armenian militias, which would not pay them taxes.

January 2, 1980wednesday
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.'

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

De 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.

May 2, 1980friday
A high-ranking Shiite religious dignitary, Imam Hajje Hassan Chirazi was assassinated in Beirut, on the Ramlet el Bayda Corniche, onboard of a taxi.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 8, 1980thursday
A seaside resort called 'Bella Mar' collapsed while still under construction. Eight persons lost their lives in the accident.

\_this day in full \_on this day

January 8, 1981thursday
The Arab Strike Force withdrew from Zahleh.

\_this day in full the books also date it 22 December 1980, 2 April 1981 \_on this day

\_what the books add

After the December 1980 clashes in Zahleh, Syrian troops gave up their checkpoints inside the town but kept it under blockade (Hanf). Ménargues, however, says ADF checkpoints were still on the town's main roads when Lebanese Forces fighters seized them in the first days of April 1981.

May 8, 1981friday
The American envoy Philip Habib began his talks at the Baabda Palace.

\_this day in full the books also date it 4 May 1981 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Ménargues writes that Habib came from Damascus by road on the evening of 7 May, Beirut airport being closed. De Clerck and Malsagne date Reagan's dispatch of Habib to 4 May.

January 8, 1982friday
Differences grew between Amal and the National Movement headed by Walid Joumblatt.
Amal accused the NM of trying to replace the State and the Arab Strike Force by putting together a unified militia and instituting 'self-security'. The NM accused Amal of obstructing the execution of the return of order in West Beirut.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf sees Lebanese Muslim opinion turning against Syrian and Palestinian dominance in early 1982, as the Palestinians' Lebanese allies lost support and pre-war moderates regained standing.

February 8, 1982monday
Israel reiterated its threats against the South, while Lebanon continued its contacts to eliminate the dangers weighing on the Southern zone and to increase the number of UNIFL soldiers in the area.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 2, 1982sunday
The terrorists were now targeting religious instances. After the assassination of Sheikh Assaf, Father Abousleiman was killed. Two other persons were killed in a church.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 2, 1982thursday
The normalization continued. The Sodeco crossing way was opened to traffic.

\_this day in full \_on this day

December 2, 1982thursday
A wide meeting in Baabda reached an agreement on the creation of a Lebanese strike force in charge of reestablishing order and security in Aley and the Chouf.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 2, 1983wednesday
The aggressions didn't spare the Multinational Force. Reacting to the anti-French attacks, the President of the French Republic, Francois Mitterand, ordered the reinforcement of the French contingent in Lebanon.

\_this day in full \_on this day

December 8, 1983thursday
A water tower exploded in the Bekaa and the flooding provoked a landslide that destroyed 10 houses and killed 20 persons.

\_this day in full \_on this day

January 2, 1984monday
The year started like the previous one ended : everyone was talking about a new security plan for the mountain and the Southern suburbs of Beirut. Nevertheless, the fights continued intermittently in these regions between the Army and the Lebanese Forces on one side and the Progressive Socialist Party and Amal on the other.

\_this day in full the books also date it 29 January 1984 \_on this day

\_what the books add

On 29 January the Druze resumed attacking the army at Souk al-Gharb, after Shi'i militia sniping at the army and French troops from mid-January, Hanf's next escalation.

February 2, 1984thursday
The schools closed their doors in the Eastern sector of the capital due to the blind shelling of Beirut and its suburbs.

\_this day in full the books also date it 1 February 1984 \_on this day

February 8, 1984wednesday
The ' New Jersey ', the most powerful battleship in the world from the 6 US fleet, bombed for several hours anti-governmental positions in the mountain.

\_this day in full the books also date it 13 February 1984 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Druze militiamen in Tibiyat, east of Beirut, visited by Fisk on 13 February, said the New Jersey's shelling of the Metn and Chouf foothills had killed 24 civilians and wounded 115 (their figures). De Clerck and Malsagne note the ship's frequent misses and its Arabic nickname 'New Jersa' ('new shame').

January 8, 1985tuesday
The security plan for the coastal road and the Iqlim El Kharroub was finally put into execution. The Internal Security Forces started their deployment in these regions.

\_this day in full the books also date it 9 January 1985 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf dates the army's advance to 9 January 1985, the day he says the Israelis began to pull back. In his account the plan, agreed with Walid Jumblatt, the Sidon Nasserites and the region's Christian deputies, sent a mainly Muslim battalion into the Iqlim al-Kharroub and the Sidon hinterland.

May 2, 1985thursday
The Lebanese overseas protested against the recent events in Lebanon. They occupied the Lebanese embassies and consulates in the West, in order to attract the attention of the public opinion to the fate of those living in South Lebanon.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 8, 1986thursday
Starting this date, Lebanon was on the black list of terrorist countries put together by the European Community ad hoc commission. This was due to the activist bases and kidnappings that were taking place in the country.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 2, 1986tuesday
The first meeting of the Dialog Committee was held at the Beirut racecourse. The ten members of the government met for the first time since November 1985. The Ministers decided to elaborate a new National Pact.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

The meetings produced no agreement (Hanf).

December 2, 1986tuesday
A general strike paralyzed the country. The Lebanese were unable to cope with the increase in prices. The leaders couldn't find any solution to the crisis. The popular discontent was on the rise.

\_this day in full \_on this day

January 2, 1987friday
The Minister of Labor Selim El Hoss signed a decree raising the minimum wage to 3,200 LBP. This decision was a timid ray of light in the heavy economic sky.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Historians describe the collapse of real wages behind such decrees: against 1974, the statutory minimum wage kept 13 percent of its buying power at the end of 1986 (Hanf, after Abou Rjaily and Labaki).

January 8, 1987thursday
Artillery duels between the two sectors of the capital on one hand and the bombing of the Beirut Airport on the other, raised the tension again.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 2, 1987monday
The Swiss Embassy was the last embassy to close in West Beirut.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 8, 1987friday
An Israeli raid on Ain-el Heloueh and Mieh-Mieh Palestinian camps kills 7 persons and wounds 34.

\_this day in full \_on this day

December 2, 1987wednesday
While credits are unblocked to buy fuel and service stations are reopened, Victor Cassir, Minister of Industry and Oil, authorizes private companies to import fuel subject to a previous authorization by the Ministry of Oil.

\_this day in full \_on this day

December 8, 1987tuesday
The storm is raging in the country. Floods provoke important damages and kill 5 persons. On the other hand, electric power becomes rare.

\_this day in full \_on this day

February 2, 1988tuesday
Jacques Merrin, a Frenchman working for the DGSE, is killed by unknown persons in the neighborhood of the Palace of Justice.

\_this day in full \_on this day

September 8, 1988thursday
The deputy of Jezzine, Farid Serhal is kidnapped at a P.S.P. checkpoint in Ouzai and driven to the Bristol Hotel.

\_this day in full \_on this day

December 2, 1988friday
General Aoun orders the closure of the Museum-Berbir junction; the passage will be re-opened 17 days later.

\_this day in full \_on this day

January 8, 1989sunday
After the fightings in Beirut, the Amal movement and the Hezbollah continue their bloody fightings in the Iqlim-el-Touffah.

\_this day in full \_on this day

May 8, 1990tuesday
General Aoun decides to close all the roads communicating with the regions controlled by the Lebanese Forces while the battle continues to rage.

\_this day in full \_on this day