Word: druzes
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...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 outposts. Government troops retaliated by shelling the densely populated southern suburbs...
...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...
...fighting escalated into a vicious struggle for all of West Beirut. Amal forces were joined by Druze fighters and members of the Murabitun, a left-wing militia that was thought to have disbanded after the Israeli withdrawal from West Beirut. At 1:30 p.m. on Monday, the army declared a curfew and warned that anyone found on the streets would be "shot without warning...
...soldiers resented the fact that most of their officers were Christian, the army performed surprisingly well when faced with its first tests. The soldiers cleared the Muslim militias out of West Beirut in late 1982 and succeeded, with the help of U.S. naval fire, in quelling the battle between Druze and Christians in the Chouf Mountains last September...
...just in the city but throughout a 30-mile crescent stretching from Jounieh in the north to the mountain district of Kharroub. In the suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese Army clashed with Shi'ite militiamen. In the hills east of the city, government soldiers fought forces loyal to Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt. At the southern tip of the Chouf Mountains, the Druze and the 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...