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418 news for January, February, July, December

with the books

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January 15, 1984sunday
Ships from the sixth US fleet were positioned off Beirut. They were retaliating to the bombing of Marines' headquarters in the capital.

\_this day in full the books also date it 9 January 1984 \_on this day

January 16, 1984monday
Saad Haddad, commander of the Army of Free Lebanon, died from a generalized cancer. He was 47 years old and was buried in his birthplace, Marjeyoun.

\_this day in full the books also date it 13 January 1984 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Sources disagree on the date of Saad Haddad's death: Ménargues gives 13 January 1984; Hanf and Fisk give January 1984; de Clerck and Malsagne give December 1983. No supplied book gives 16 January. Ménargues also gives his birth year as 1937 and his origin as Marjayoun, consistent with the age stated here.

January 16, 1984monday
Blind bombardments killed 16 persons and wounded 75 others in Beirut. Anxiety and fear prevailed. Schools and hospitals received their daily lot of bombs, amid international indifference. Panic reached the Lebanese stock exchange market where the Dollar amounted almost for six Lebanese Pounds.

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January 18, 1984wednesday
The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the killing attempt that cost the life of Malcolm Kerr, President of the American University in Beirut, shot in front of his office.

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\_what the books add

Hanf writes that Kerr was murdered by unknown assailants; Fisk says he was shot in the head by 'Islamic Jihad' on campus. De Clerck and Malsagne give 18 January 1984 in one chapter but list the murder among the reverses of 1983 in another. The wording 'killing attempt' understates it: Kerr was killed.

January 22, 1984sunday
Walid Joumblatt, president of the Progressive Socialist Party, requested the resignation of the Lebanese government.

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\_what the books add

Hanf: Gemayel had undertaken at Geneva to negotiate a new agreement with Israel and had not; for that, Jumblatt and Berri demanded he resign at the end of January. Traboulsi cites Jumblatt, early in 1984, vowing to fight on until Gemayel's government went. Neither confirms the day, 22 January.

February 2, 1984thursday
The schools closed their doors in the Eastern sector of the capital due to the blind shelling of Beirut and its suburbs.

\_this day in full the books also date it 1 February 1984 \_on this day

February 5, 1984sunday
President Gemayel announced his intention to form a national union government and presented a program of 8 points to save the country. He also convoked a new conference for national reconciliation in Geneva on February 27. The resignation of the Wazzan government presented on September 26, 1983, was finally accepted.

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\_what the books add

In Fisk's account Wazzan submitted his resignation that day, insisting it be accepted at once. This looks like a fresh resignation rather than acceptance of the one tendered on 26 September 1983, though Fisk also has the cabinet resigning in September 1983. Hanf has Berri appealing to Shi'i soldiers not to fire on their own people on the day the army began shelling the southern suburbs, at heavy civilian cost.

February 6, 1984monday
In a matter of hours, Amal took control over West Beirut. The capital was heavily bombed, while the Army gave up the control of the Western sector of the Capital to Amal and to the Islamic militias.

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\_what the books add

The books describe a joint Amal and PSP (Druze) offensive, not Amal alone; the mainly Shi'i Sixth Brigade went over to Amal. Hanf dates the last Christian soldiers' withdrawal to the east, and so the completed division, to 7 February. De Clerck and Malsagne record the uprising's name, 'the 6 February movement'. About 50,000 Christians moved east, almost half the public radio's 400 staff left their posts, and Télé-Liban split. A later Sunni militia took its name from the date (Hanf).

February 8, 1984wednesday
The ' New Jersey ', the most powerful battleship in the world from the 6 US fleet, bombed for several hours anti-governmental positions in the mountain.

\_this day in full the books also date it 13 February 1984 \_on this day

\_what the books add

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').

February 9, 1984thursday
Foreign diplomats and nationals were evacuated form the Western regions where anarchy prevailed.

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February 11, 1984saturday
French porpoises and Internal Security forces took in charge the Museum crossing point.

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\_what the books add

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

February 14, 1984tuesday
Amal and PSP met in Khaldeh, while only Souk El Gharb was still controlled by the Army in the mountain.

\_this day in full the books also date it 15 February 1984 \_on this day

\_what the books add

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.

February 15, 1984wednesday
Mechref and Damour fell under the control of the PSP, while violent combats raged around Souk El Gharb, the last obstacle in the mountain.

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\_what the books add

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

February 17, 1984friday
The Marines withdrew from Beirut. The Italian contingent of the Multinational Force was soon to follow. The capital was left on its own.

\_this day in full the books also date it 7 February 1984, 31 July 1984 \_on this day

\_what the books add

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).

February 29, 1984wednesday
President Amine Gemayel visited Damascus. The observers expected a normalization soon after. Indeed, the Syrian President approved the opening of new round Israeli-Lebanese negotiations.

\_this day in full the books also date it 24 February 1984, 26 February 1984 \_on this day

\_what the books add

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.

July 2, 1984monday
A rocket attack hit the offices of l'Orient-Le-Jour causing serious damages.

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July 4, 1984wednesday
The Army was deployed in Greater Beirut. The crossing points were reopened, thus unifying the Eastern and Western sectors of the Capital.

\_this day in full the books also date it 3 July 1984 \_on this day

\_what the books add

Hanf gives 3 July 1984 for the security plan's entry into force; this entry and entry 725 use 4 July. Hanf adds that the Green Line barricades were cleared at the end of July.

July 7, 1984saturday
The parents of kidnapped and disappeared persons demonstrated and blocked the Museum axis.

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July 9, 1984monday
The Beirut International Airport and the Port also reopened. They had been closed since February 6.

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July 12, 1984thursday
Violent confrontations opposed the Marada, President Frangieh's militia, to the Syrian Nationalist Party.

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July 14, 1984saturday
Talal Salman, chief editor of the newspaper As Safir, was seriously injured by a killing attempt. The Press went on strike for 24 hours to protest against this incident.

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July 16, 1984monday
The Marada and the Syrian Nationalist Party signed an agreement in Damascus, putting an end to the 'war in the North'.

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July 20, 1984friday
An rocket attack was perpetrated against the Soviet embassy in Mazraa. The 'organization of the sharp sword', an unknown organization, claimed responsibility for the attack.

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July 21, 1984saturday
A Lebanese hijacker captured an MEA airplane connecting Abou-Dhabi to Beirut, to protest against the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. He surrenders to the authorities after harsh negotiations. The airplane had 138 passengers and 9 crewmembers aboard.

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July 22, 1984sunday
Walid Joumblatt agreed on the return of Christians to the Chouf and Aley.

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July 25, 1984wednesday
In Tripoli, a violent battle opposed Islamists from Sheikh Said Chaabane's Islamic Unification Movement to the Arab Democratic Party's Red Knights. A deluge of metal and fire hit the capital of the North. These fights killed 15 persons and injured 60 others.

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\_what the books add

Hanf calls the Arab Democratic Party militia the 'Pink Panthers'; de Clerck and Malsagne call the pro-Syrian militia of Jabal Mohsen the 'Red Knights' (Cavaliers rouges), as here.

July 25, 1984wednesday
The local authorities decided to close an Israeli liaison bureau located in Dbayeh, the last link between the two countries.

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July 28, 1984saturday
'There is no more East or West', declared the commander of Beirut. The unification of the capital seemed to have succeeded.

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December 3, 1984monday
Guns were still echoing in the Iqlim.

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December 7, 1984friday
Fights were reported downtown causing the Ring to close.

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December 11, 1984tuesday
The dollar exceeded 9 Lebanese Pounds.

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\_what the books add

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

December 13, 1984thursday
The Israelis launched a wide repression operation in South Lebanon. 3,000 men searched the region for members of the Resistance and arrested several of them.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

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.

December 15, 1984saturday
The Army's deployment plan between Madfoun and the Awali river as well as in the Iqlim El Kharroub was finally executed. The entire population went on strike in South Lebanon to protest against the military operation of December 13.

\_this day in full the books also date it 9 January 1985 \_on this day

\_what the books add

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.

December 20, 1984thursday
The Army deployed its troops in Tripoli.

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December 21, 1984friday
A car bomb killed five persons and wounded 30 others, including 19 children in Ras El Metn.

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December 29, 1984saturday
The parents of hostages divided the capital in two in a protest action.

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January 1, 1985tuesday
It is a bad beginning of the year for the Lebanese. Beirut was still divided in two, the problem of kidnapped and disappeared persons was unsolved, the fighting continued in the mountain between the Army and the PSP. In South Lebanon, the assault-reprisal cycle continued.

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\_what the books add

Fisk's figures for December 1984 alone: some hundred attacks on Israeli forces in the south, with three Israeli soldiers, seventeen of Lahad's militiamen and eight collaborators killed.

January 3, 1985thursday
Eric Wehrli, the Swiss chargé d'affaires, was kidnapped in West Beirut. He was later released on January 7 by Amal. The dollar reached 9.10 Lebanese Pounds.

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January 4, 1985friday
A commission was created, including the Lebanese Front, the Progressive Socialist Party, Amal, the Syrian Nationalist Party, and parents of the hostages. The crossing points between the two sectors of the capital were reopened while the plan for the Iqlim was halted because of the conflict between the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Front.

\_this day in full \_on this day

January 6, 1985sunday
The 12th round of the Israeli-Lebanese negotiations in Nakoura started.

\_this day in full \_on this day

\_what the books add

Picard dates the end of President Gemayel's talks with Israel to January 1985.

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