39 news for January, February, July, November, December 1981
with the booksJanuary 3, 1981saturday
After its withdrawal from Ain El Remmaneh on October 31, 1980 the Army repositioned on the main road axes in the region.
\_this day in full the books also date it 31 October 1980, 20 November 1980 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Dates differ. De Clerck and Malsagne's chronology has the Lebanese Forces controlling East Beirut from 31 October 1980. Ménargues puts the LF's 48-hour assault on Ain al-Remmaneh, held by Elias Hannouche's Chamounists, ten days after the 10 November car bombs, around 20 November 1980.
January 5, 1981monday
Michel Rocard, member of the French Socialist Party's national secretariat met with President Elias Sarkis, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Chafic Wazzan, as well as with the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat.
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 8, 1981thursday
The Arab Strike Force withdrew from Zahleh.
\_this day in full the books also date it 22 December 1980, 2 April 1981 \_on this day
\_what the books add
After the December 1980 clashes in Zahleh, Syrian troops gave up their checkpoints inside the town but kept it under blockade (Hanf). Ménargues, however, says ADF checkpoints were still on the town's main roads when Lebanese Forces fighters seized them in the first days of April 1981.
January 9, 1981friday
A new phase of the war started in Lebanon: the war of televisions. The 'Lebanese Forces' wanted to broadcast under the name 'Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation' and the Mourabitun seemed to be willing to give them hard time. As a result, they both emitted on the same channel and thus jammed the image.
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January 18, 1981sunday
Jean Francois Revel, the director of the French weekly magazine L'Express, left Beirut after a 48-hour visit. He declared before his departure: 'The actual drama in Lebanon is the result of the convergence of external factors rather than an internal crisis'.
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January 21, 1981wednesday
20,000 displaced persons from Damour participated in a peaceful walk towards the presidential palace to claim their return home.
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January 23, 1981friday
Combats were raging between militiamen from the Amal movement and the Popular Palestinian Liberation Front (PPLF) in Chyah.
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January 28, 1981wednesday
President Elias Sarkis delivered a speech at the Third Islamic States Summit in Taef, where he headed the Lebanese delegation. He declared: 'Lebanon cannot bear anymore the Palestinian armed presence on its land'.
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 29, 1981thursday
The Israeli aviation bombarded Saida and Nabatyeh for two days. An artillery duel opposed the 'Common Forces' to the militiamen of Saad Haddad. These Israeli bombardments killed 14 and injured 30 others.
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January 31, 1981saturday
A violent storm hit Lebanon.
50 cars were totally stuck between Sofar and Mdeirej and their occupants spent the night in their vehicles. The Army was able to rescue 200 persons in the mountain.
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February 4, 1981wednesday
February 13, 1981friday
The kidnapping on February 6 in Beirut of the chargé d'affaires of Jordan in Lebanon, remained at the center of preoccupation of the country's leaders. They adopted a series of security measures for the protection of embassies.
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February 14, 1981saturday
February 18, 1981wednesday
The Council of Ministers centered part of its deliberations to the Sodeco region that was catching fire on a daily basis. Chafic Wazzan pledged to cease the fire.
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February 19, 1981thursday
His Beatitude Bishop Maximos V Hakim escaped a killing attempt on the road of Bhamdoun. The aggressors' identity was unknown.
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February 24, 1981tuesday
Shells from different calibers fell on the Eastern residential neighborhoods, spreading destruction, fires, and terror. The population wondered why these blind bombardments were perpetrated and until when would they continue.
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July 2, 1981thursday
The Sodeco crossing way was officially opened to traffic. But the calm didn't last for more than 2 days, as snipers were back into action.
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July 4, 1981saturday
The Arab Foreign Affairs Ministers met in Beiteddine. However, no concrete measure was taken, it was a total impasse.
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\_what the books add
Ménargues lists the participants as Syrian foreign minister Abdel Halim Khaddam, the Arab League's representative and the Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors, Ali Chaër and Abdel Hamid Bouayajane. That day a general strike against the Syrian presence shut down the Christian regions.
July 8, 1981wednesday
The chief of State Elias Sarkis, met with Bechir Gemayel and Pierre Gemayel. He announced after the meeting that he was given guarantees concerning the rupture of the relations with Israel.
\_this day in full the books also date it 6 July 1981 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Bashir Gemayel's pledge took the form of a letter to President Sarkis dated 6 July, which Sarkis never published (Ménargues).
July 10, 1981friday
In retaliation to an air raid launched by Israel in Southern Lebanon, the Palestinians bombarded Kyriat Shmona injuring 14 Israelis.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Ménargues counts 6 dead and 20 wounded in the two raids, on Democratic Front sites at Habbouch (near Nabatiyeh) and Ghaziyeh (near Sidon). Hanf dates the Israel–PLO 'Fourteen Day War' from them.
July 16, 1981thursday
Within a few hours, the Israeli aviation destroyed 9 bridges in Southern Lebanon cutting off the supply roads of the Palestinian forces. 32 persons were killed and 97 were injured in just one day.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
Ménargues counts six bridges over the Awali and Litani destroyed in the raids. The Palestinians replied the same day with some 2,000 shells and rockets on Nahariya and Kiryat Shmona.
July 17, 1981friday
Tel Aviv launched the bloodiest attack against Lebanon.
Israel bombarded the central district in Beirut, the headquarters of the Fateh, of the Democratic Palestinian Liberation Front and of the Popular Palestinian Liberation Front, killing 141 and injuring 730. This was the first time that Israel targeted the heart of a residential area in Beirut.
\_this day in full \_on this day
\_what the books add
The raid targeted PLO offices in the Fakhani district of West Beirut. Tolls differ: Ménargues gives 191 dead and over 730 wounded; Fisk and Picard about 300 dead; Hanf hundreds killed and over a thousand hurt, chiefly civilians.
July 21, 1981tuesday
While the bombardment continued in South Lebanon, the Security Council ordered a cease-fire; but the latter wasn't observed despite the presence of the US envoy Philip Habib in the region.
\_this day in full the books also date it 22 July 1981 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Ménargues dates to 22 July Reagan's indefinite freeze on F-16 deliveries to Israel and a unanimous Security Council call for an immediate cease-fire, which Arafat accepted at once.
July 24, 1981friday
Philip Habib finally succeeded in his mission. A cease-fire was reached and accepted by both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
\_this day in full the books also date it 17 July 1981 \_on this day
\_what the books add
The cease-fire came from separate talks with Israel and the PLO, helped by Saudi diplomats (Hanf), with the UN relaying to the PLO (Ménargues, Fisk). Border fire was to stop; Syria could keep its Bekaa missiles unused, and Israeli overflights continued. In Ménargues's account a last Israeli demand held up Israel's public acceptance for two days.
July 27, 1981monday
The EDL started an electricity rationing program. There was a bad shortage of fuel due to the Israeli bombardment of the Zahrani oil refinery.
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November 2, 1981monday
The Arab Strike Force launched a security operation in the West of the capital where Palestinian, Libyan and Iranian influence multiplied lately.
\_this day in full the books also date it 11 September 1981 \_on this day
November 27, 1981friday
Gerard Lenorman performed his famous song La ballade des gens heureux at the Casino du Liban in front of a public that still wanted to believe in happiness.
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November 30, 1981monday
The Arab Strike Force conducted a spectacular raid in West Beirut. Hundreds of persons were arrested and taken to a barrack for questioning.
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December 7, 1981monday
A Sadrist commando hijacked a Libyan airplane at the Beirut International Airport. The air pirates who held 43 hostages, injured a passenger and threatened to execute him in order to have the plane refueled. The aggressors called upon Khadafi to liberate the Imam.
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December 10, 1981thursday
December 15, 1981tuesday
A bomb attack destroyed the Iraqi embassy. 20 persons were killed including the ambassador and 100 were wounded.
\_this day in full the books also date it 16 December 1981 \_on this day
\_what the books add
Ménargues dates the bombing to 16 December. The six-storey embassy at Ramlet al-Baida was destroyed by an explosives-laden car driven by Shiite suicide attackers; a group nobody knew claimed it, and the ambassador's body took four days to find. It followed heavy fighting in West Beirut on 4 December between Amal and pro-Iraqi Baathists, and a Lebanese Forces visit to Baghdad.
December 19, 1981saturday
