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').

'Porpoises' is a literal rendering of the French 'marsouins', the nickname of the French marine infantry (troupes de marine).

De Clerck and Malsagne give 14 February 1984 for the PSP's capture of the Chahhar district, part of a week-long uprising in Beirut and the mountain.

Hanf counts some 15,000 Christian civilians leaving the coastal Chouf for Israeli-occupied territory; Mechref is not named.

Sources date the Marines' departure differently. Hanf: the US announced the 'redeployment' to the ships on 7 February. De Clerck and Malsagne: the evacuation ran from 7 to 26 February, and their chronology dates the MNF withdrawal 26 February - 31 March. Fisk: a last Marine detachment guarding the embassy left on 31 July 1984. The Italians left on 20 February (Hanf).

Ménargues gives two different days for this visit: 24 February in his prologue and 26 February in another passage. Hanf and Fisk both give 29 February. Fisk notes a 21-gun salute; Hanf says Gemayel told Assad he was ready to abrogate the 17 May agreement.

Traboulsi notes Gemayel never signed the agreement, which his government formally repudiated.

Most sources give 12-20 March 1984. Picard's main text gives April 1984 and Fisk says 'spring of 1983'. Traboulsi's chronology lists Lausanne under 1983. Hanf says the conference agreed on a ceasefire and a commission on the constitution, which may be what 'constituent assembly' refers to. He also says Frangieh blocked any radical reorganisation.

Hanf dates the Mourabitoun's final destruction and Qulaylat's exile to April 1985, when Amal and the PSP combined against them.

Hanf and de Clerck and Malsagne date the departure of the last French MNF soldiers to 31 March 1984; 25 March may mark the start of the French withdrawal, which the books do not mention. France left soldiers in Beirut as ceasefire observers.

De Clerck and Malsagne give 23 June 1984 for Aoun's appointment, which contradicts the '24th of June' in the entry's own biography text. Hanf calls Aoun, commander of the Souk al-Gharb front, well liked by soldiers of both religions, and says the security plan was accepted only once the six-member command council was in place.

Fisk reports that a suicide bomber, claimed by 'Islamic Jihad', blew up the new US embassy, wounding the American and British ambassadors; a British security man had shot the driver first. Sohmor he dates to late September 1984: Druze SLA men, avenging three Druze comrades shot in an ambush, opened fire on the men of the village assembled in its square, killing 13 and wounding 30. This entry's 24 dead and 96 injured may be a copying error, since 96 injured is also the embassy figure.

De Clerck and Malsagne give 8.7 pounds to the dollar for 1984, without a month.

Fisk counts a hundred attacks on Israeli forces in December 1984, when the Sayeret Matkal commandos searched villages east of Tyre on foot and Shin Bet men beat youths each time. De Clerck and Malsagne date the complete sealing-off of the Israeli-held zone from the rest of Lebanon to autumn 1984.

Hanf dates the army's advance into the Sidon region to 9 January 1985, as Israel began pulling back. Some of the 15 December deployment may have been north of the Awali, which he does not detail. The southern strike is not in the books.

Annual figures: the pound fell to about 16 to the dollar in 1985 against 6.5 in 1984, with retail inflation of about 70 per cent (Hanf, citing Abou Rjaily and Labaki); de Clerck and Malsagne put the 1985 devaluation at 150 per cent. Hanf notes that rumours of large PLO deposits briefly strengthened the pound in early 1985.

Traboulsi dates Israel's exit from Sidon to 17 February 1985. Fisk describes Christians and Muslims briefly celebrating together when Lebanese troops arrived.

Prime Minister Rashid Karami travelled with Gemayel. Hanf records kidnappings of Christians and counter-kidnappings after several thousand Islamists from Beirut rallied in Sidon next day for an Islamic republic while the army stood aside.