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December 28, 1987monday
Charles Malek dies at the age of 82 ans following a long period of illness. The news of the death of the former Council's Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs saddens the political, as well as the academic and intellectual sets. The American President Ronald Reagan addresses an emotional tribute to the memory of the academic, the philosopher and the politician.
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February 2, 1988tuesday
Jacques Merrin, a Frenchman working for the DGSE, is killed by unknown persons in the neighborhood of the Palace of Justice.
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February 3, 1988wednesday
February 4, 1988thursday
The emissary of President Amine Gemayel, Elie Salem, meets with the Secretary of State George Schultz in Washington in the presence of the Sub-Secretary for the Middle East Affairs, Richard Murphy.
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February 12, 1988friday
An explosive charge of 880 grs of TNT is found and diffused in the airplane that has to transport President Gemayel to Sanaa.
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June 3, 1988friday
Nabih Berri, leader of the Amal movement, announces the dissolution of his militia in all regions except for Southern Lebanon.
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June 5, 1988sunday
2,200 tons of toxic waste were illegally brought in Lebanon and kept on waste grounds in the Kesrouan, after being rejected by Italy, Syria and Venezuela.
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\_what the books add
De Clerck (p. 350) places the traffic in 1987 and implicates the Lebanese Forces. Its figures, from Greenpeace: 15,800 barrels and 20 containers from Italy, of which 5,500 barrels went back in 1988-1989; the rest was burned, dumped or buried, partly in the Kesrouan mountains.
June 10, 1988friday
A two hours face-to-face meeting between presidents Gemayel and Assad in Algeria opens a new page in the dialogue between Syria and Lebanon.
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June 27, 1988monday
Chatila falls in the hands of the Palestinian dissidents.
\_this day in full the books also date it 28 June 1988, 8 July 1988 \_on this day
\_what the books add
De Clerck (pp. 170, 576) dates the fall of Chatila to 28 June 1988, after 59 days of shelling; Arafat's fighters were escorted to Ain al-Hilweh.
September 8, 1988thursday
September 13, 1988tuesday
Fire exchanges between units of the Lebanese army and the Lebanese Forces in Sin-el-Fil and Mkalles killed one militiaman and injured another one.
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September 18, 1988sunday
Mikhael Daher, deputy from the North, 'was designated' candidate at the presidential elections in accordance with a Syrian-American agreement. This designation did not please everyone.
\_this day in full the books also date it 15 September 1988 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Hanf (pp. 569-570): the joint US-Syrian proposal came out of three days of talks in Damascus from 15 September, after which Murphy warned the Maronite Patriarch that the alternative to Daher was chaos.
September 20, 1988tuesday
September 22, 1988thursday
A few minutes before the expiration of his mandate, President Amine Gemayel named the Maronite commander of the army, general Michel Aoun, Prime Minister of a military government. According to the constitution, the ministers' council takes over the executive power in case of a vacancy of the presidency. However, the three Muslim Ministers withdraw immediately.
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Hanf (p. 570) says Gemayel signed the decrees at 23.45, after an ultimatum from Aoun and Geagea, and that the cabinet had six officers from six communities. Traboulsi's postscript dates the end of the term to October 1988, and Picard (p. 155) and Quéméner to August 1988; the other sources agree on 22 September.
September 23, 1988friday
General Aoun and Selim Hoss were fighting for the international recognition. The country was from now on divided in two regions run respectively in the 'East' by general Aoun and in the 'West' by Selim Hoss.
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December 7, 1988wednesday
On the fifth day of a blockade imposed by the closure of the Museum-Berbir junction, the only supply road for fuel and food products, the bank of Lebanon gives up to the pressures and unfreezes credits for the West Beirut sector for direct importation of flour.
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December 13, 1988tuesday
An agreement takes place between the employers and the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers. The minimum wage is thus increased to 25,000 LBP.
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December 20, 1988tuesday
Four days after the liberation of the R.C.I.C. Swiss delegate, Peter Winkler, kidnapped in Southern Lebanon on November 17 and released on December 16, the Red Cross International Committee decides to suspend its operations in Lebanon immediately and to repatriate its delegates.
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December 29, 1988thursday
Two French little girls (Marie-Laure and Virginie Valente) kidnapped 13 months earlier are delivered by the Libyan authorities to a French government emissary. The year ends in a very tense climate. The Lebanese are wondering about their future.
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February 1, 1989wednesday
Presidents Hoss, Husseini, and General Aoun did not come up with an agreement in Tunis.
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\_what the books add
Hanf: Aoun told the Tunis meeting he could settle Lebanese differences himself once Syria withdrew; Hoss and Husseini put reform first.
February 9, 1989thursday
Anouar Fatayri, high official of the Progressive Socialist Party and his bodyguard Mohammed Saïd Abou Mehdi are assassinated in an ambush at the entry of the Jahlieh village in the Chouf.
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February 10, 1989friday
Confrontations are taking place between the Lebanese Army and the Lebanese Forces in Jdeideh.
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\_what the books add
Hanf cites estimates of 15,000 troops under Aoun and 10,000 militiamen, both sides heavily armed by Iraq, and dates the outbreak of heavy army-Lebanese Forces fighting to 10 February, Aoun accusing the militia of plotting a coup. De Clerck and Malsagne date the first clash to 14 February.
February 14, 1989tuesday
New confrontations between the army and the L.F. were taking place in Monteverde and next to the Justice Palace in Beirut, which created a general mobilization on both sides.
\_this day in full the books also date it 10 February 1989 \_on this day
\_what the books add
De Clerck and Malsagne date the first army-LF clash to 14 February: after 18 hours of fighting the army had the upper hand. Hanf dates the start to 10 February.
February 16, 1989thursday
An agreement on military disengagement is concluded between the Army and the L.F., within in a four-party committee.
\_this day in full the books also date it 17 February 1989 \_on this day
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De Clerck and Malsagne have a truce under the Maronite Patriarch's patronage from 17 February. Hanf says Aoun accepted a ceasefire once the militia agreed to hand over Dock Five of the port and the Bourbara checkpoint.
February 17, 1989friday
A general Christian assembly is held in Bkerkeh, headquarters of the Maronite patriarch, in order to treat the L.F.-Army litigation.
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February 20, 1989monday
A meeting between General Aoun, Chief Commander of the Army, and Samir Geagea Chief of the L.F., takes place in Baabda. The goal of this meeting is to eliminate the differences between them.
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February 23, 1989thursday
The fifth basin of Beirut harbor, controlled by the L.F. is closed and the tax checkpoints of Berbara are dismantled.
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\_what the books add
Hanf reports that within a week the dollar dropped from LL502 to LL450 and that state customs income rose quickly, though the Lebanese Forces honoured their February 1989 undertaking only in part. The army received Dock Five, the country's main customs post, and the Barbara checkpoint (Hanf spells it 'Bourbara').
June 12, 1989monday
The EEC gives its full support to the committee composed by the three Chiefs of State (Algerian, Saudi Arabian, and Moroccan) constituted during the Casablanca Summit in order to find a solution to the Lebanese crisis.
\_this day in full the books also date it 23 May 1989 \_on this day
\_what the books add
The committee was set up at the Arab summit in Casablanca, which opened on 23 May 1989 (Hanf).
June 15, 1989thursday
Electricity, fuel, and flour are the daily preoccupation of Lebanese. Once again, the power plant of Zouk announces that it cannot supply power more than 2 hours a day.
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September 6, 1989wednesday
2000 angry demonstrators have besieged the American Embassy. Twenty-four hours later, 30 American diplomats, including the Ambassador John Mc Carthy, leave Lebanon.
\_this day in full the books also date it 16 November 1989 \_on this day
\_what the books add
According to Hanf and Fisk, the embassy closed after demonstrations by Aoun's supporters. A first youth protest at the embassy, against Western 'silence', took place in April 1989.
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