lebanese war
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316 news for February, May, July

with the books

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February 3, 1975monday
After a debate that lasted 15 days, the conclave chose unanimously a neutralist candidate. Mgr Antonios Khoreiche was the new Patriarch of Antioch and the Middle East.

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Antoine Khuraych headed the Maronite Church from his election on 3 February 1975 (enthronement 9 February) until 1986, styling himself the 'patriarch of dialogue'.

February 5, 1975wednesday
The Arab Defense Committee gathered in Cairo, voted 90 million dollars for the defense of Lebanon.

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May 16, 1975friday
The Solh Cabinet resigned due to pressures against its members.

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In a heated sitting of parliament Rashid al-Solh resigned, blaming the Kataeb for the fighting. His refusal to deploy the army had led the Kataeb ministers to leave the cabinet, and other Christian ministers had followed them.

May 20, 1975tuesday
Five people were killed and 24 were wounded in Dekwaneh
Violent confrontations opposed Palestinians from the Tell El Zaatar camp and Phalange Party members. Businesses were closed in protest against the lack of security.

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May 23, 1975friday
Following the resignation of the Government of Rachid El Solh, Sleiman Frangieh, President of the Republic, put together a military government.
The new government was headed by Noureddine Rifai, a retired Corporal, and included only one civilian, Lucien Dahdah. This Government was in charge of reestablishing the peace in the country caused by bloody clashes between the Phalange Party and the Resistance. These clashes were still going on in Beirut and its surroundings.

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Nureddine al-Rifai was a retired Sunni officer: a general according to Hanf, a brigadier-general according to Traboulsi, an officer of the gendarmerie according to de Clerck and Malsagne.

May 26, 1975monday
The military Cabinet resigned
Islamic and leftist leaders rejected this Cabinet. The Lebanese considered it as a challenge. Karameh presented his candidature to form a new Government, in a climate of terror imposed by militias. Lootings, killings, and kidnappings continued.

\_this day in full the books also date it 28 May 1975 \_on this day

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The National Movement's call for a general strike, supported by the leading Sunni politicians, Mufti Hassan Khaled, Musa al-Sadr and Raymond Edde, brought down the military cabinet on 26 May; on 28 May Frangieh appointed Rashid Karami Prime Minister.

July 1, 1975tuesday
Lebanon had a new Government
The new Cabinet included the following 6 members Rachid Karameh - Prime Minister, Minster of Finance, National Defense, and Information. Camille Chamoun - Minister of Interior, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, and Hydraulic and Electric Resources. Adel Osseirane - Minster of Justice, Public Works, Economy and Trade Magid Arslane : Minster of Health, Agriculture, and Housing and Cooperatives. Philippe Takla - Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Education, and Plan. Ghassan Tueni - Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Tourism, and Industry and Oil. This government aimed, in a climate of daily fights and extreme tension, at dismantling barricades, taking away heavy armaments, suppressing defense positions, and reopening the roads.

\_this day in full the books also date it 6 July 1975 \_on this day

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Hanf puts the cabinet's formation at the end of June and its announcement some two weeks before the 15 July confidence vote (83 for, none against, 16 Jumblatt supporters abstaining); Traboulsi's chronology gives 6 July. Neither the Kataeb nor Jumblatt was included. A cease-fire followed, which Traboulsi says was reached with Syrian mediators' help.

July 7, 1975monday
New coins equivalent to one Lebanese pound were issued

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July 7, 1975monday
An Israeli aggression against Rachidieh and Bourghoulieh camps in South Lebanon killed 12 persons and wounded 20 others. A Lebanese complaint was lodged at the United Nations.

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February 12, 1976thursday
Banks reopened their doors after several months of paralysis

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February 17, 1976tuesday
A terrible tragedy was reported at the American University of Beirut. A student who was excluded in 1973 shot two deans: Raymond Ghosn and Robert Njeimy.

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February 23, 1976monday
A forty-five years old fanatic locked up 35 persons at the Canadian embassy. This situation lasted 8 hours and immersed Lebanon in a torrid suspense. The hostages were then liberated in a happy ending.

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May 1, 1976saturday
Despite the Damascus agreement, fights continued violently. The elections were postponed to May 8, the two candidates being Elias Sarkis and Raymond Eddeh.

\_this day in full the books also date it 8 May 1976 \_on this day

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Accounts differ. Hanf has Raymond Eddé stand 'on principle', protesting at outside manipulation, and so become the Left's candidate; Traboulsi and de Clerck and Malsagne have him boycott the vote, Traboulsi because it could not be free.

May 4, 1976tuesday
Air France suspended its flights. It was the last foreign airline that was still flying to Lebanon.

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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.

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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.

May 16, 1976sunday
The Lebanese press was in mourning. A sniper's bullet killed Edouard Saab, the chief editor of L'Orient-Le-Jour.

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De Clerck and Malsagne note that Edouard Saab was Le Monde's correspondent too; a sniper shot him dead while he crossed the demarcation line.

May 25, 1976tuesday
Raymond Eddeh fell into an ambush between Nahr Ibrahim and Antelias. The Amid's car was riddled with over a hundred projectiles but he got away with only an injured leg.

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De Clerck and Malsagne record three attempts on Raymond Eddé's life, one outside his home, before his voluntary exile in Paris from January 1977; Picard dates the exile to December 1976.

May 27, 1976thursday
Linda Joumblatt, Kamal Joumblatt's 55 years old sister, was cowardly assassinated in her home in Beirut. A group of armed men broke into her apartment and opened fire on her. She was killed while her daughters Nouha, 28 years old, and Samar, 18 years old were injured.

\_this day in full the books also date it 2 June 1976 \_on this day

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On 2 June Bashir Gemayel, having asked for a secret meeting with Kamal Jumblatt, offered him condolences and information on who had killed her. Traboulsi names her Linda al-Atrash and puts her apartment in East Beirut.

May 30, 1976sunday
An avalanche of missiles and shells hit Beirut while combats continued on all fronts. The bombings reached the airport, imposing the closure of runways to air traffic at night.

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July 1, 1976thursday
While Palestinian camps were under attack and all fronts were on fire, Beirut was short of water, electricity, and medications. The situation was intolerable.

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Hanf dates Lebanese Front forces' capture of the Jisr al-Basha camp to this day; de Clerck and Malsagne give 29 June, Picard August.

July 5, 1976monday
The PLO and their allies launched a massive offensive against the Kura and the Christian town of Chekka north of Beirut.

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Hanf writes that once Jisr al-Pasha fell on 1 July the Palestinians struck in the north, taking coastal Chekka from Tripoli by way of the Koura, with massacres, looting and arson. A Lebanese Front counter-attack with army tanks reached Tripoli's outskirts.

July 8, 1976thursday
The leftists opened new fronts in the port and business districts, hoping to draw the rightists away from Tel El Zaatar, but the assaults were quickly repulsed by local defenders.

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July 11, 1976sunday
The National Union Front was created. Its founding members were Saeb Salam , Raymond Eddeh , Mikhael Daher , Rachid El Solh , Hassan Rifai , Albert Mansour, and Ali El Khalil

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July 13, 1976tuesday
William Hawi, commnander of the Kataeb military forces was shot and killed by a sniper whilst he was inspecting his forces on the edge of the Tel el Zaatar camp.

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Ménargues has William Hawi shot by a Palestinian sniper in June 1976, at the end of the Tal al-Za'tar siege; Traboulsi places it during the siege. Bashir Gemayel succeeded him as Kataeb militia chief.

February 4, 1977friday
The Government promulgated a decree concerning wartime conflicts between owners and renters.
The decree stipulated mainly that rent contracts remained operative, while backlogs will be staggered on 18 months with no interest for all rents under 5,000 Lebanese Pounds. As to destroyed properties, there were three possibilities: reconstruct, compensate the renters, or give them shares.

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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.

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February 14, 1977monday
The ambassador of the United States returned to Lebanon.
Intense diplomatic activity was carried on in Beirut. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs started an official visit. The American Secretary of State met, during a visit to the Middle East, with President Sarkis in Beirut reassuring him that the United States supports the independence, unity and territorial integrity of the country. He announced a 50 million dollars aid to Lebanon.

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February 28, 1977monday
A master plan for the souks of the old Beirut was submitted to the Council of Ministers. This project included the creation of a green front, an opening to the sea from the Saint George to Bahri, the construction of a port district around the first basin, the opening of avenues towards the sea, and the reconstruction of the souks.

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APUR, the Atelier parisien d'urbanisme, drew up this 1977 plan, the earliest of three reconstruction studies made during the war.

May 3, 1977tuesday
Lebanon received about 110 million Lebanese Pounds from the EEC.

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May 13, 1977friday
An Antonov-12 air freighter belonging to the Polish company LOT crashed in the forest of Aramoun. The airplane that was returning from Warsaw carried a shipment of meat and seven crewmembers who perished in the accident.

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May 26, 1977thursday
The mandate of the Arab four-party committee in charge of the execution of the Palestinian-Lebanese Cairo agreement had expired, while the agreement had not been executed yet.

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July 8, 1977friday
An armed group took control of a Boeing connecting Beirut to Kuwait.
Twelve armed men highjacked a Boeing 707 belonging to the Kuwait Airways company. 45 passengers, including the Kuwaiti ambassador in Lebanon and ten crewmembers, were on board. The highjackers claimed the liberation of 300 persons detained in six Arab countries. The next day, they set the hostages free and surrendered to the authorities

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July 13, 1977wednesday
Dalida sang in Byblos and charmed the Lebanese.

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July 21, 1977thursday
The ' technical Palestinian-Syrian-Lebanese committee ' met in Chtaura, trying to put an end to the hostilities in South Lebanon and find a settlement for the Palestinian armed presence in the country, as suggested by the Cairo agreement. This meeting was the first between Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians since fights stopped last November. It resulted from the recent meetings between leaders of these three countries.

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July 24, 1977sunday
340 tourists made a brief stopover in Beirut. The Sol Phryne, a boat achieving a Mediterranean cruise, made a stopover in Beirut and its 340 passengers visited the capital for a few hours.

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July 25, 1977monday
An agreement was signed in Chtaura.
The technical four-party committee decided unanimously the following: -Approving the two plans of action for the execution of the Cairo agreement. -Entrusting the regular Lebanese forces and the Arab Strike Force with the supervision of their execution in all regions, including Southern Lebanon. -Starting the execution of the two plans of action on July 30, no armed elements will be allowed to circulate outside the camps. -Withdrawal of the Palestinian forces up to 15 kilometers north of the borderline with Israel.

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Syria, Hanf writes, had lost interest in disarming the Palestinians by autumn 1977, with Sadat's initiative under way, and the deal soon counted for nothing. It had bound the PLO to keep out of a ten-kilometre belt beside the Israeli frontier and, chiefly, to halt raids and shelling across it.

July 30, 1977saturday
The Arab Strike Force deployed around the camps in Beirut, Tripoli, Saida and in the Bekaa region.

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February 1, 1978wednesday
An explosion injured 18 persons in Bourj. It was caused by a grenade hidden in a parked car.

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

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February 7, 1978tuesday
A serious incident occurred in Fayadieh.
Lebanese Soldiers fought with elements of the Arab Strike Force. Shots were exchanged followed by heavy armaments shootings.

\_this day in full the books also date it 8 February 1978, 17 February 1978 \_on this day

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Historians date the Fayadiyeh incident to 7 February (de Clerck and Malsagne), 8 February (Hanf) or 17 February (Ménargues). It began when Syrian soldiers set up a roadblock in front of the Military Academy; officer cadets, led according to de Clerck and Malsagne by Captain Samir (Sami) al-Achkar, fought back and Syrian artillery shelled the barracks. Syrian losses are given as 13 dead and 36 wounded (de Clerck and Malsagne), over 30 dead (Ménargues) or 220 dead and 30 wounded (Hanf). As fighting spread into East Beirut, about a hundred people died when Syrian guns shelled Badaro, Ain el-Remmaneh and Karm el-Zeitoun. Sarkis and Damascus settled the affair with a joint Lebanese-Syrian military court. De Clerck and Malsagne date the Syria-Christian split to it.

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