Word: beirutization
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...symbolic gesture, readily agreed to perform the ceremony before a recent rally in Santa Cruz, Calif. The impromptu wedding was a media stunt, but Jackson insisted that his only goal was to publicize the plight of Allan Steen, the bride's father, who is a hostage in Beirut. Still, Jackson was beaming avuncularly when the camera crews tromped in to film the candidate, Bible in hand, blessing the happy couple. The only glitch came when the bride, Becky Steen, was asked about her plans for a honeymoon. Jackson stiffened when Steen explained that the getaway trip would be postponed...
...crackle of machine-gun fire and the crump of mortar shells reverberated in the narrow alleyways of Beirut's southern suburbs. Figures in camouflage fatigues crouched behind the crumbling concrete-block walls of abandoned apartment buildings, clutching Kalashnikovs and scanning the area ahead for signs of movement before advancing. Red headbands identified the men as members of Hizballah, the disciplined and fanatical Shi'ite militia supported by Iran. After three weeks of combat, Hizballah's militants, led by Iranian Revolutionary Guards, had seized control of virtually the entire area of Beirut's southern suburbs from the Syrian-backed Amal militia...
Squadrons of Syrian tanks rolled into position around the southern suburbs of Beirut last week, their cannon muzzles pointed menacingly at the 16-sq.-mi. enclave. Two Syrian armored brigades, supported by two battalions of President Hafez Assad's elite Special Forces commandos, crouched behind barricades ringing the Shi'ite Muslim slums. Since May 6, fierce battles between rival militias had raged through the streets and alleys, causing many of the area's 250,000 residents to flee. In bloody hand-to-hand combat, the fanatical, pro- Iranian Hizballah had driven the more moderate, Syrian-backed Amal...
...most bizarre episodes, Seurat was allowed a brief visit in August 1985 with his wife and daughters in Beirut, and then returned to the cell loaded down with sociology books. It was the last time he saw his family. A month later, he was deathly ill with hepatitis. A Lebanese Jewish doctor, Elie Hallat, who was also a hostage, pleaded in vain for Seurat's release. As his condition worsened, a Shi'ite commander volunteered a transfusion. "You are becoming a Shi'ite," joked a captor after Seurat was given blood. In fact, the researcher was dying. By then French...
...Liberty," said the guard. Given the double meaning of that word, Kauffmann's greatest fears and hopes ricocheted through his emotions until the last second of captivity. Driven to an empty field, Kauffmann was joined there by Carton and Fontaine. Arriving a few minutes later at a hotel in Beirut, Kauffmann heard a French voice shout, "French intelligence services! Clear the way, for God's sake!" The ordeal was finally over...