Word: amal
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...began two weeks ago, when fierce fighting broke out between the Lebanese Army and militiamen in the predominantly Shi'ite suburbs south of the capital. Rumors had circulated that the army was preparing to move into the area to crush the forces of the Shi'ite organization Amal. According to U.S. officials, Army Commander Ibrahim Tannous also wanted to cut off an eleven-mile-long corridor that was being used to ferry weapons from Druze outposts in the Chouf Mountains to the Shi'ite militiamen. Tannous' offensive quickly stalled, however, and Amal forces seized three army...
...assault infuriated Amal Leader Nabih Berri, who is known as one of Lebanon's more pragmatic opposition figures. For the first time, he joined Druze Chieftain Walid Jumblatt in calling for Gemayel's resignation. More important, he urged three Muslim members of the Cabinet to quit, prompting Wazzan, a Sunni Muslim, to quit as well. Gemayel tried frantically but failed to find a respected Muslim politician to replace Wazzan (according to Lebanese political tradition, the Prime Minister is always a Sunni while the President is a Maronite Christian). Gemayel then appeared on TV, offering an eight-point plan...
...offer proved to be too little, too late. Around noon the next day, Lebanese Army troops and Amal militiamen clashed along the city's "green line," which divides Christian East Beirut from the mainly Muslim western sector. According to Amal leaders, the battle began when they discovered that the army was beefing up its forces in West Beirut with a brigade dominated by the members of the Christian Phalange, a right-wing militia that the Shi'ites regard as their bitter enemy. Yet Amal's rapid response suggested that the attack had been well planned...
...Christian Phalange killed each other. Only West Beirut and the airport, where the U.S. Marines are stationed, were spared direct attacks. Since all sides have failed to settle on a security pact that would separate the feuding factions, no one group can be blamed entirely for the bloodletting. Amal, the country's largest Shi'ite organization, did spark some of the fighting. Increasingly unnerved by rumors that government troops would move into the city's predominantly Shi'ite southern suburbs, Amal militiamen overran four army checkpoints, including a key tactical post on the main highway...
...staying too long. In a wry allusion to the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 war, southern Lebanon has come to be known to some Israelis and Lebanese as the "North Bank." Says Mohammed Ghaddar, leader of the Shi'ite Muslim Amal militia in the region: "We thought the Israelis would be here for a few weeks and then would get out. Now that they show no signs of leaving, they are losing the sympathy and understanding of the people." That is putting it mildly. Three weeks ago, after one of their...