Word: amal
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Administration officials searching for a solution to the stalemate, Berri seemed to offer hope. On the fourth day of the crisis, National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane called the Amal leader and in effect told him that the burden was on him to resolve the crisis. Berri had it in his power, McFarlane said, to secure the release of both the American hostages and the Shi'ites held by the Israelis. But if the hostages were not freed, McFarlane warned, Berri would be held personally responsible. Said a White House official: "The thrust of our diplomatic effort became to convince Berri...
...does all that make Berri, leader of the Shi'ite Amal militia, the ideal man to negotiate release of the American hostages? Not by a long shot. President Reagan declared last week, with a snap of his fingers, that Berri "could be the solution that quickly." Berri, however, seemed closer to the mark when he told CBS's Dan Rather that he was in "a very delicate situation." He seems, indeed, to be a man riding a tiger, a leader scrambling to talk and act as radically as his followers...
...leader of Amal, Berri at first did little to oppose the Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon. As a Minister in Lebanon's so-called government of National Unity, he participated in negotiations aimed at getting Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon although many Shi'ites felt that Lebanon should not even talk to the Israelis. He and his Amal militiamen helped secure the release of one American and a Frenchman kidnaped by extremists early last year. Berri has continued to attend Lebanese Cabinet meetings, even though many of his followers have wanted nothing to do with the central...
Accordingly, Berri led Amal in armed clashes against Israelis, Maronite Christians, Palestinians, Sunni Muslims and former allies, the Druze. "Berri the moderate? That's absurd!" scoffs Joyce Starr, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University. Agrees a U.S. Government source who has dealt with Berri: "He may be in the center but only because the center moved. He's not an extremist, but he's shown that he's quite willing to escalate his language -- and his actions -- to retain his position of authority in the Shia community." Still, there...
...made his hold on power any more secure. Despite being a devout Muslim who prays daily and shuns alcohol, he believes in separation of church and state. That puts him at odds with the Shi'ite Party of God, which advocates an Islamic state. Many of his own Amal militiamen carry pictures of Iran's Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini on leather thongs around their necks. Says one Washington intelligence source with expertise on the Lebanese Shi'ites: "Berri may be well known and popular among Shi'ites, but if you ask, 'Does he have control?' the answer is no." If Berri...