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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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052989
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05298900.020
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1990-09-22
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WORLD, Page 63World NotesLEBANONA Peacemaker Is Slain
The motorcade was snaking its way through lunch-hour traffic
in a residential quarter of West Beirut when a parked car loaded
with 330 lbs. of TNT erupted in a shattering explosion. Rescuers
dashed through the flames to the black Cadillac at the center of
the motorcade, but it was too late. "Our beloved Mufti is
murdered!" screamed a policeman. The explosion also killed 21
others and injured 75 bystanders.
Thus ended the life of Sheik Hassan Khaled, the revered Grand
Mufti of Lebanon's 900,000 Sunni Muslims. Sheik Khaled had devoted
most of his 68 years to seeking an accommodation between his
country's perennially fractious Muslim and Christian populations.
Responsibility for the bombing remained uncertain. The Syrians,
who control West Beirut, blamed Lebanon's Christians; the
Christians accused the Syrians. But fittingly, the death of the
peace-loving cleric inspired a rare display of unity: Christians
and Muslims joined in a one-day nationwide strike to mourn his
loss.