Word: assad
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...renewed fighting was touched off by a bitter feud involving the country's three major Christian factions: Pierre Gemayel's Phalangists, Camille Chamoun's National Liberals, and forces loyal to former President Suleiman Franjieh, a close ally of Syrian President Hafez Assad. The dispute centers on the fact that Gemayel and Chamoun would like to create a separate Christian state in northern Lebanon, while Franjieh supports a unified nation. Franjieh also believes the country's sovereignty is best guaranteed by the presence of the Syrian army...
Angered by this attack on his old friend, Assad decided it was time to crush the obstreperous Phalange. Using heavy artillery and rocket barrages, Syrian forces last week bombarded towns and installations controlled by Phalangist and National Liberal militiamen. The heaviest fire was concentrated on East Beirut, where both Gemayel's and Chamoun's headquarters went up in flames. "This is genocide against the Christians of Lebanon," protested Chamoun. Lebanese Foreign Minister Fuad Butros rushed to Damascus in a vain attempt to arrange a ceasefire. But Syria's tough Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas responded: "The Syrian army...
Syria's Assad believes the security of his own country is tied directly to that of Lebanon. If the Christian forces upset the balance of power in the country, and successfully turned half of Lebanon into an Israeli-backed ministate, Israel's forces would be that much closer to Syria by land and sea. For its part, Israel fears that a Syrian-dominated Lebanon, with leftist Muslims in control, would turn the country into another confrontation state...
...avoids quarrels even with Arab radicals, preferring to build as broad a range of contacts as he can. In the interests of preserving Arab unity, he has mediated between leftist Algeria and royalist Morocco in the Sahara dispute. He maintains ties with Egypt's Sadat and Syria's Hafez Assad, with the Palestine Liberation Organization's Yasser Arafat and with Lebanese Christian Leader Camille Chamoun. Saudi Arabia has had problems with radical Iraq and Marxist South Yemen, but he keeps in touch with leaders of both states...
Many students feel that all the food is bad, however. "It all tastes the same," Eric M. Winter '79, said yesterday. Alfredo Assad '79, said simply, "It sucks...