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27 news for February, July, November, December 1981

with the books
February 4, 1981wednesday
Four Lebanese militaries were killed in a helicopter accident. The Aircraft crashed on the hills of Sannine.

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February 13, 1981friday
The kidnapping on February 6 in Beirut of the chargé d'affaires of Jordan in Lebanon, remained at the center of preoccupation of the country's leaders. They adopted a series of security measures for the protection of embassies.

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February 13, 1981friday
A Syrian-Israeli air duel took place in the sky of the Bekaa region.

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February 14, 1981saturday
Snipers paralyzed the circulation in Sodeco, the main road connecting East and West Beirut.

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February 18, 1981wednesday
The Council of Ministers centered part of its deliberations to the Sodeco region that was catching fire on a daily basis. Chafic Wazzan pledged to cease the fire.

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February 19, 1981thursday
His Beatitude Bishop Maximos V Hakim escaped a killing attempt on the road of Bhamdoun. The aggressors' identity was unknown.

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February 24, 1981tuesday
Shells from different calibers fell on the Eastern residential neighborhoods, spreading destruction, fires, and terror. The population wondered why these blind bombardments were perpetrated and until when would they continue.

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July 2, 1981thursday
The Sodeco crossing way was officially opened to traffic. But the calm didn't last for more than 2 days, as snipers were back into action.

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July 4, 1981saturday
The Arab Foreign Affairs Ministers met in Beiteddine. However, no concrete measure was taken, it was a total impasse.

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Ménargues lists the participants as Syrian foreign minister Abdel Halim Khaddam, the Arab League's representative and the Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors, Ali Chaër and Abdel Hamid Bouayajane. That day a general strike against the Syrian presence shut down the Christian regions.

July 8, 1981wednesday
The chief of State Elias Sarkis, met with Bechir Gemayel and Pierre Gemayel. He announced after the meeting that he was given guarantees concerning the rupture of the relations with Israel.

\_this day in full the books also date it 6 July 1981 \_on this day

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Bashir Gemayel's pledge took the form of a letter to President Sarkis dated 6 July, which Sarkis never published (Ménargues).

July 10, 1981friday
In retaliation to an air raid launched by Israel in Southern Lebanon, the Palestinians bombarded Kyriat Shmona injuring 14 Israelis.

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Ménargues counts 6 dead and 20 wounded in the two raids, on Democratic Front sites at Habbouch (near Nabatiyeh) and Ghaziyeh (near Sidon). Hanf dates the Israel–PLO 'Fourteen Day War' from them.

July 16, 1981thursday
Within a few hours, the Israeli aviation destroyed 9 bridges in Southern Lebanon cutting off the supply roads of the Palestinian forces. 32 persons were killed and 97 were injured in just one day.

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Ménargues counts six bridges over the Awali and Litani destroyed in the raids. The Palestinians replied the same day with some 2,000 shells and rockets on Nahariya and Kiryat Shmona.

July 17, 1981friday
Tel Aviv launched the bloodiest attack against Lebanon.
Israel bombarded the central district in Beirut, the headquarters of the Fateh, of the Democratic Palestinian Liberation Front and of the Popular Palestinian Liberation Front, killing 141 and injuring 730. This was the first time that Israel targeted the heart of a residential area in Beirut.

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The raid targeted PLO offices in the Fakhani district of West Beirut. Tolls differ: Ménargues gives 191 dead and over 730 wounded; Fisk and Picard about 300 dead; Hanf hundreds killed and over a thousand hurt, chiefly civilians.

July 21, 1981tuesday
While the bombardment continued in South Lebanon, the Security Council ordered a cease-fire; but the latter wasn't observed despite the presence of the US envoy Philip Habib in the region.

\_this day in full the books also date it 22 July 1981 \_on this day

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Ménargues dates to 22 July Reagan's indefinite freeze on F-16 deliveries to Israel and a unanimous Security Council call for an immediate cease-fire, which Arafat accepted at once.

July 24, 1981friday
Philip Habib finally succeeded in his mission. A cease-fire was reached and accepted by both the Israelis and the Palestinians.

\_this day in full the books also date it 17 July 1981 \_on this day

\_what the books add

The cease-fire came from separate talks with Israel and the PLO, helped by Saudi diplomats (Hanf), with the UN relaying to the PLO (Ménargues, Fisk). Border fire was to stop; Syria could keep its Bekaa missiles unused, and Israeli overflights continued. In Ménargues's account a last Israeli demand held up Israel's public acceptance for two days.

July 27, 1981monday
The EDL started an electricity rationing program. There was a bad shortage of fuel due to the Israeli bombardment of the Zahrani oil refinery.

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July 29, 1981wednesday
An air combat in which a Syrian MIG was shut down by Israeli Phantoms broke the precarious calm in Lebanon.

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November 2, 1981monday
The Arab Strike Force launched a security operation in the West of the capital where Palestinian, Libyan and Iranian influence multiplied lately.

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November 20, 1981friday
Habib was expected to undertake a new mission in order to prevent a new round of hostilities in Lebanon.

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November 24, 1981tuesday
A Lebanese delegation attended the Fez Summit, marked by a resounding failure.

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November 27, 1981friday
Gerard Lenorman performed his famous song La ballade des gens heureux at the Casino du Liban in front of a public that still wanted to believe in happiness.

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November 30, 1981monday
The Arab Strike Force conducted a spectacular raid in West Beirut. Hundreds of persons were arrested and taken to a barrack for questioning.

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December 5, 1981saturday
The residential areas were again bombarded with heavy artillery.

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December 7, 1981monday
A Sadrist commando hijacked a Libyan airplane at the Beirut International Airport. The air pirates who held 43 hostages, injured a passenger and threatened to execute him in order to have the plane refueled. The aggressors called upon Khadafi to liberate the Imam.

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December 10, 1981thursday
Terrorism stroke in Tripoli where an attack caused 12 dead and 75 injured.

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December 15, 1981tuesday
A bomb attack destroyed the Iraqi embassy. 20 persons were killed including the ambassador and 100 were wounded.

\_this day in full the books also date it 16 December 1981 \_on this day

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Ménargues dates the bombing to 16 December. The six-storey embassy at Ramlet al-Baida was destroyed by an explosives-laden car driven by Shiite suicide attackers; a group nobody knew claimed it, and the ambassador's body took four days to find. It followed heavy fighting in West Beirut on 4 December between Amal and pro-Iraqi Baathists, and a Lebanese Forces visit to Baghdad.

December 19, 1981saturday
The explosion of a car bomb at the Unesco killed 16 persons and injured 18.

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