TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=93CT1755> <link 90TT2883> <link 89TT3175> <link 89TT2233> <title> Lebanon--History </title> <history> Compact ALMANAC--CIA Factbook Southwest Asia Lebanon </history> <article> <source>CIA World Factbook</source> <hdr> History </hdr> <body> Lebanon is the historical home of the Phoenicians, Semitic traders who based a maritime culture there for more than 2,000 years (c.2700-450 BC). In later centuries, Lebanon's mountains were a refuge for Christians, and the Crusaders established several strongholds there. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the five Ottoman provinces that had comprised present-day Lebanon were mandated to France by the League of Nations. The country gained independence in 1943, and French troops were withdrawn in 1946. Lebanon's history from independence through 1988 can be defined largely in terms of its presidents, each of whom shaped Lebanon by his personal brand of politics: Sheikh Bishara al-Khoury (1943-52), Camille Chamoun (1952-58), Fuad Shihab (1958-64), Charles Helou (1964-70), Suleiman Franjiyah (1970-76), Elias Sarkis (1976-1982), and Amine Gemayel (1982-88). From the end of the term of Amine Gemayel in September 1988 until the elections of Rene Moawad in November 1989, Lebanon had no president. The terms of the first two presidents ended in political turmoil. In 1958, during the last months of President Chamoun's term, an insurrection broke out, aggravated intensely by external factors. In July 1958, in response to the Lebanese government's appeal, US forces were sent in to help and were withdrawn in October 1958, after the inauguration of President Shihab and a general improvement in the internal and international aspect of the situation. President Franjiyah's term saw the outbreak of full-scale civil conflict in 1975. Prior to 1975, difficulties had arisen over the large number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and presence of Palestinian fedayeen (commandos). Frequent clashes involving Israeli forces and the fedayeen endangered civilians in south Lebanon and unsettled the country. Following minor skirmishes in the late 1960s and early 1970s, serious clashes erupted between the fedayeen and Lebanese government forces in May 1973. Coupled with the Palestinian problem, Muslim and Christian differences grew more intense, with occasional clashes between sectarian private militias. The Muslims were dissatisfied with what they considered to be an inequitable distribution of political power and social benefits. In April 1975, after shots were fired at a church where a consecration was taking place, a busload of Palestinians was ambushed by gunmen in the Christian sector of Beirut, an incident widely regarded as the spark that touched off the civil strife. Palestinian fedayeen forces joined the predominantly leftist-Muslim side as the fighting persisted, and fighting eventually escalated and spread to most parts of the country. Elias Sarkis was elected president in 1976. In October of that year, Arab summits in Riyadh and Cairo set forth a plan to end the war. The resulting Arab Deterrent Forces (ADF), composed largely of Syrian troops, moved in at the Lebanese government's invitation to separate the combatants, and most fighting ended soon thereafter. In mid-1978, clashes between the ADF and the Christian militias erupted. The Arab foreign ministers, at a meeting in Bayt ad-Din, Lebanon, created the Arab Follow-Up Committee, composed of Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, to end fighting between the Syrians and Christians. After the Saudi ambassador was wounded in December 1978, the committee did not meet again formally until June 1981, when it was convened to begin addressing issues of security and national reconciliation starting with the Zahleh crisis. (The crisis began in April 1981, when a confrontation arose between Syrian troops and a Christian militia.) The situation in Zahleh was resolved in late June 1981, but the committee was unsuccessful in making progress toward a broader political settlement and has been inactive since November 1981. Israeli-Palestinian fighting in July 1981 was ended by a cease-fire arranged by President Reagan's special envoy, Philip C. Habib, and announced on July 24, 1981. The cease-fire was respected during the next 10 months, but a string of incidents led to the June 6, 1982, Israeli ground attack into Lebanon to remove PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) forces. Israeli forces moved quickly through south Lebanon, reaching and encircling west Beirut by mid-June and beginning a 2-1/2 month siege of Palestinian and Syrian forces in the city. Throughout the period, which saw sustained, heavy Israeli air, naval, and artillery bombardments of west Beirut, Ambassador Habib worked actively to arrange a settlement. In August, he was successful in bringing about an agreement for PLO fighters from Beirut. The agreement also provided for the deployment of a three-nation Multinational Force (MNF) during the period of the evacuation, and by late August, US Marines, as well as French and Italian units, had arrived in Beirut. Following the conclusion of the evacuation, these units departed. The Marines left on September 10. In spite of the invasion, the Lebanese political process continued to function, and Bashir Gemayel was elected president in August, succeeding Elias Sarkis. On September 14, however, only 9 days before he was to assume the presidency, Bashir Gemayel was assassinated when a bomb exploded while he was addressing a meeting in east Beirut. Subsequently, Israeli troops entered west Beirut, beginning September 15. On September 16-18, Lebanese militiamen massacred hundreds of Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Shantila refugee camps in west Beirut. Bashir Gemayel's brother, Amine, was elected president by a unanimous vote of the parliament on September 21. He took office on September 23, beginning the effort to restore stability and economic prosperity to Lebanon and win the withdrawal of all foreign forces. To assist in this undertaking, MNF forces returned to Beirut at the end of September, their presence serving as a symbol of support for the government. In February 1983, a small British contingent joined the US, French, and Italian MNF troops in Beirut. President Gemayel and his government placed primary emphasis on the withdrawal of Israeli, Syrian, and Palestinian forces from Lebanon, and in late 1982, Lebanese-Israeli negotiations commenced with US participation. On May 17, 1983, an agreement was signed by the representative of Lebanon, Israel, and the United States that provided for Israeli withdrawal of its troops, effectively stalemating further progress. Faced with continuing Syrian opposition to the Lebanon- Israel agreement, the Lebanese government announced on March 5, 1984, that it was canceling its unimplemented agreement with Israel. Although the general security situation in Beirut remained calm through late 1982 and the first half of 1983, a move by Christian militiamen into the Druze-controlled Shuf area southeast of Beirut following the Israeli invasion led to a series of Druze-Christian clashes of escalating intensity beginning in October 1982. When Israeli forces unilaterally withdrew from the Shuf at the beginning of September 1983, a full-scale battle erupted with the Druze, backed by Syria, pitted against the Christian Lebanese army. A cease-fire that followed very active US and Saudi efforts to bring the fighting to an end was concluded on September 26 and left the Druze in control of most of the Shuf. Casualties were estimated to be in the thousands. As it became clear that the departure of the US Marines was imminent, the Gemayel government came under increasing pressure from Syria and its Muslim allies to abandon the May 17 accord. The virtual collapse of the Lebanese army in February 1984, following the defection of many of its Muslim and Druze units to opposition militias, was a further blow to the government's viability. His options rapidly dwindling, Gemayel agreed to abrogate the accord; the Marines were withdrawn in March. Syria, however, proved unable to turn matters decisively to its advantage. Further national reconciliation talks at Lausanne under Syrian auspices failed. A new "government of national unity" under Prime Minister Rashid Karami was declared in April 1984 but made no significant progress toward solving Lebanon's internal political crises or its growing economic difficulties. The situation was exacerbated by the deterioration of internal security. The opening rounds of the savage "camps war" in May 1985--a war that flared up twice in 1986--pitted the Palestinians living in refugee camps in Beirut, Tyre, and Sidon against the Shi'ite Amal militia, which was concerned with resurgent Palestinian military strength in Lebanon. Eager for a solution in late 1985, Syria began to negotiate a "tripartite accord" on political reform among the leaders of various Lebanese factions, including the LF. Syrian hopes were dashed, however, when the accord was opposed by Gemayel and the leader of the LF was overthrown by his hardline anti-Syrian rival, Samir Ja'ja', in January 1986. Syria responded by inducing the Muslim government ministers to cease dealing with Gemayel in any capacity, effectively paralyzing the government. In 1987, the Lebanese economy worsened, and the pound began a precipitous slide. On June 1, Prime Minister Karami was assassinated, further compounding the political paralysis. Salim al-Huss was appointed acting prime minister. As the end of President Gemayel's term of office neared, the different Lebanese factions could not agree on candidates to be successor. Consequently, when his term expired on September 23, 1988, he appointed Army Commander General Michel Aoun as interim prime minister. Gemayel's acting prime minister, Salim al-Huss, also continued to act as de facto prime minister. As a result of the conflicting claims and interests, Lebanon was divided between an essentially Muslim government in west Beirut and an essentially Christian government in east Beirut. The working levels of many ministries, however, remained intact and were not immediately affected by the split at the ministerial level. In February 1989, General Aoun attempted to close illegal ports run by the LF. This led to several days of intense fighting in east Beirut and an uneasy truce between Aoun's army units and the LF. In March, an attempt by Aoun to close illegal militia ports in predominantly Muslim parts of the country led to a 6-month period of shelling of east Beirut by Muslim and Syrian forces and shelling of west Beirut and the shuf by the Christian units of the army and the LF. This shelling caused nearly 1,000 deaths, several thousands injuries, and further destruction to Lebanon's economic infrastructure. In January 1989, the Arab League appointed a six-member committee on Lebanon, led by the Kuwaiti foreign minister. At the Casablanca Arab summit in May, the Arab League empowered a Higher Committee on Lebanon--composed of Saudi King Fahd, Algerian President Bendjedid, and Moroccan King Hassan--to work toward a solution in Lebanon. The Higher Committee issued a report in July 1989 saying that its efforts had reached a "dead end" and blamed Syrian intransigence for the blockage. After further discussions, the committee arranged for a seven-point ceasefire in September, followed by a meeting of Lebanese parliamentarians in Taif, Saudi Arabia. After a month of intense discussions, the deputies informally agreed on a charter of National Reconciliation, also known as the Taif agreement. The deputies returned to Lebanon at the Qleiat Air Base in northern Lebanon in November, where they approved the Taif agreement on November 4, and elected Rene Moawad, a Maronite Christian deputy from Zghorta in north Lebanon, president on November 5. General Aoun, claiming powers as interim prime minister, issued a decree in early November dissolving the parliament and did not accept the ratification of the Taif agreement or the election of President Moawad. President Moawad was assassinated on November 22 by a bomb that exploded as his motorcade was returning from ceremonies celebrating Lebanese Independence Day. The parliament met on November 24 in the Biqa' Valley and elected Elias Hrawi, a Maronite Christian deputy from Zahleh in the Biqa' Valley, to replace him. President Hrawi named a prime minister, Salim al- Huss, and a cabinet on November 25. Despite widespread international recognition of Hrawi and his government, General Aoun refused to recognize Hrawi's legitimacy, and Hrawi officially replaced Aoun as army commander in early December. In late January 1990, General Aoun's forces attacked positions of the LF in east Beirut in an apparent attempt to remove the LF as a political force in the Christian enclave. In the heavy fighting that ensued in east Beirut and its environs, over 900 people died and over 3,000 were wounded. The National Assembly in August 1990 approved, and President Hrawi in September 1990 signed into law, constitutional amendments embodying the political reforms aspects of the Taif agreement. These amendments gave some presidential powers to the Council of Ministers, expanded the National Assembly from 99 to 108 seats, and equally divided those seats between Christians and Muslims. In October 1990, a joint Lebanese-Syrian military operation against General Aoun forced him to capitulate and take refuge in the French embassy. Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, November 1990. </body> </article> </text>