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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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March 18, 1988friday
The Ivory Coast decides to close its embassy in Beirut fearing that a negative action against its diplomats could cause repercussions on the Lebanese that live in the Ivory Coast.
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March 31, 1988thursday
The first animated cartoons festival in Lebanon is inaugurated at the S.E.P in presence of several personalities as well as cartoonists who came from France.
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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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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').
March 6, 1989monday
Yarzeh reactivated 'The Maritime Operations Room:' instructed to watch the navigation movement in the Lebanese waters and to prevent boats from entering the illegal harbours of the country. Sami Khatib (chief commander of the army in the Western sector) closed the access to the port in retort to what was considered a blockade.
\_this day in full the books also date it 3 March 1989 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Hanf puts Aoun's order to blockade Khalde, Jiyeh and Ouzai, the ports held by the PSP and Amal, on 3 March; de Clerck and Malsagne place the closure of the illegal ports on 6 March. Syria had warned Aoun against acting beyond 'his' area. Beirut and Jounieh harbours and the airport then all shut, Syrian and PSP guns shelling the first two, the army the third.
March 14, 1989tuesday
Fire exchanges in Souk-el-Gharb had to end up in an explosion. Intensive bombardments of the residential areas, the airport, and the port made 32 deaths and 145 injured.
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On this day Aoun declared a 'war of liberation' against Syria. De Clerck and Malsagne say Syrian shelling of Christian areas and of the Ministry of Defence came first that day. Traboulsi and Picard say Aoun's artillery hit West Beirut and Syrian positions there. Picard's chronology dates the war from 14 March to 22 September.
March 21, 1989tuesday
All crossing roads are closed and a blockade is imposed against the East regions.
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Hanf: the Cyprus ferry had to stop for a while, since Syrian artillery could reach every Christian port. From 21 March Syria and its militia allies also shut every crossing into Aoun's territory, in Beirut, the mountains and the north.
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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