20 news for February, September, December 1985
with the books\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
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.
\_this day in full the books also date it 9 January 1985 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Traboulsi dates Israel's exit from Sidon to 17 February 1985. Fisk describes Christians and Muslims briefly celebrating together when Lebanese troops arrived.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
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.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
A passenger died on the runway, flung there by the jets' blast, because the hijacker, Fisk writes, made the Larnaca plane take off with its doors open.
\_this day in full the books also date it 11 August 1985 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Syrian troops entered Zahleh on 7 September after the Lebanese Forces' withdrawal (Hanf).
\_this day in full the books also date it 7 October 1985 \_on this day
\_what the books add
On 7 October, Hanf writes, 20,000 Syrian soldiers entered Tripoli, after pro-Syrian groups had in September 1985 attacked the Tawheed movement then holding the city; some 250,000 civilians fled.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
In Hanf's account Berri offered the Christians a choice: a census to reset sectarian proportions, or an end to proportionality. Asked by Jumblatt why Syria dealt with Hobeika, Khaddam reportedly said everyone in Lebanon was a murderer.
\_this day in full the books also date it 1 October 1985 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Fisk dates it 1 October 1985, de Clerck and Malsagne September. Arkady Katkov was killed. Fisk thinks Sunni fundamentalists wanted Moscow to make Syria halt its Tripoli offensive against Tawheed. The others' release is credited probably to the KGB and Syria by de Clerck and Malsagne, to Syrian mediation by Hanf.
The year ended with some hope for the Lebanese, following the signature of the tripartite agreement, while the economy was agonizing and hundreds of Lebanese and foreign hostages were living in horrifying daily conditions.
\_this day in full the books also date it 12 March 1985 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Signed in Damascus by Elie Hobeika (Lebanese Forces), Nabih Berri (Amal) and Walid Jumblatt (PSP) under Syrian sponsorship. It provided for Christian-Muslim parity during a transition towards the end of political sectarianism, a stronger prime minister and cabinet, a senate, and 'strategic complementarity' with Syria. It did not end the war: President Gemayel refused it and, in January 1986, Samir Geagea's forces drove Hobeika out of East Beirut. Its provisions were largely taken up in the Taif Agreement of 1989.