Word: bashir
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Gemayel, who became President after his brother Bashir was assassinated as President-elect less than six weeks ago, was on his first overseas mission as his country's head of state. On a one-day stopover in New York City, he made three speeches in three different languages. The first, an address to a gathering of Lebanese Americans, was delivered in Arabic. The second, to the United Nations General Assembly, was given in English for the benefit of television audiences in the U.S. The third, to the U.N. Security Council, was delivered in French...
Gemayel's statements caused concern in Israel, which has supported the Christian Phalangist forces for years and was particularly close to Bashir Gemayel. Complained one Israeli official: "We felt like saying to him, 'Come off it. Don't exaggerate. Our positions in Lebanon are keeping you alive.' He didn't have to go as far as he did to please the Syrians." Some Western diplomats argued, however, that since Gemayel is dismissed by many Arabs as an Israeli puppet, it was necessary for him to try to reassure his Arab neighbors, particularly the oil-producing...
...such horror was the Sept. 14 assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel, Amin's younger brother. That atrocity had threatened to engulf Lebanon in sectarian turmoil and gave Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon an excuse to send his troops into West Beirut. Late last week Gemayel's Phalangist Party announced the arrest of a man suspected of planting the deadly bomb in its East Beirut party headquarters. He was described only as someone in contact with "foreign quarters." There were no such leads, however, in the death last week of PL.O. Chief of Staff Saad Sayel, better known...
...foreign forces withdraw from Lebanon, the question will then be whether the new government of Amin Gemayel, who was elected only two weeks ago, can effectively reconcile the Christian and Muslim communities that have been at odds since the beginning of the civil war in 1975. Unlike his brother Bashir, who was assassinated only nine days before he was supposed to take office, Amin remains an unknown quantity. Though perceived as weak and inexperienced, Amin should benefit from his record as a conciliatory figure in Lebanon's fractious political world. While Bashir attempted to impose Christian supremacy in Lebanon...
Israel, at the same time, has developed a more realistic attitude toward its northern neighbor. The Begin government, which helped train Bashir Gemayel's militia, was badgering the late President-elect only a few weeks ago for important concessions, including a peace treaty with Israel. After one meeting in which Begin repeatedly addressed Bashir, 34, as "young man," an insult in the Middle East, Bashir returned to Beirut protesting that "they won't let me have my dignity." Amin does not share his brother's fondness for Israel, and the Begin government is determined to treat...