Word: beirutization
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...week, was well aware, the TWA hostage crisis was an Israeli problem as well. As captor of the 776 mostly Shi'ite Lebanese detainees whose release was demanded by the hijackers of TWA Flight 847, Israel seemed to hold the key to freedom for the 40 captured Americans in Beirut. If Jerusalem refused to assist its most powerful ally, it ran the risk of alienating U.S. public opinion. Yet by cooperating in a trade, Israel would violate its longstanding rule against dealing with terrorists, even though it had announced its intention to release the captives before the hijacking occurred...
...coastal city of Tyre of Moussa Sadr, a highly educated Shi'ite cleric from the holy city of Qom in Iran. A charismatic preacher and shrewd organizer, Moussa Sadr formed a devoted following and in 1969 founded the Higher Shi'ite Council to represent Shi'ite interests to the Beirut government. The council worked for improved schools and hospitals in Shi'ite communities and distributed some welfare funds...
...again-off-again alliance with the Druze forces of Walid Jumblatt and sometimes serves as the agent of Syria, a major force in the Lebanese conflict. In February 1984, Berri persuaded Shi'ite members of the Lebanese Army to defect to Amal, which proceeded to take control of West Beirut...
...gunmen who had seized TWA's Flight 847 and murdered Navy Diver Robert Stethem. The only glitch in this presentation occurred when reporters and cameramen got into a shoving match as they jockeyed for position. Quickly, the Shi'ite guards hustled their prizes from the crowded room in the Beirut airport, waving pistols and cuffing a few reporters for good measure. When the press settled down, the five hostages returned and pronounced themselves healthy and well cared for. Their keepers had attended to their medical needs, fed them, kept them abreast of the news, they said. In fact, the hostages...
...there appear to be the slightest sign of a possible breakthrough. Meeting on Sunday, the Israeli Cabinet decided to free 31 of the 776 Lebanese detainees, most of them Shi'ites, currently held in Atlit prison, south of Haifa. The gesture was quickly dismissed by Shi'ite leaders in Beirut as inadequate, but it could conceivably help ease the impasse...