Word: druzes
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...Marines were the victims of the worst outbreak of factional fighting since the Israeli invasion last summer. Although there could be no doubt that Druze and Shi'ite militiamen in the hills and shantytowns near the airport had deliberately targeted the U.S. troops, stray rounds also made their way into the compound. Uneasy about the security of the Marine contingent in Lebanon, the U.S. last week ordered an additional 2,000 Marines from East Africa to the eastern Mediterranean, making them available for service in Lebanon if they should be needed...
...Lebanon, Assad is fanning the flames of hatred among various factions. Pro-and anti-Syrian militias clashed in the northern port of Tripoli last week, while Druze and Christian fighters exchanged fire in the Chouf Mountains southeast of Bei rut. The Druze, who are supported by Syria, have organized a coalition with the deliberate aim of under mining the government of President Amin Gemayel, a Maronite Christian. Earlier this month, government newspapers in Syria bluntly called for Gemayel's resignation. Meanwhile, in an attempt to gain greater leverage over the Palestine Liberation Organization, Assad shored up a rebellion against...
...Druze fighters followed up the attack on Kafr Matta last week with two days of intense shelling in and around Beirut International Airport. The bombardment hit a Lebanese army base south of Beirut and narrowly missed the Ministry of Defense and the presidential palace. Rockets landed perilously close to the headquarters of the U.S. Marine contingent that forms part of the four-nation peace-keeping force. Six U.S. Navy ships pulled out to sea as a precaution, and the Marines went on "Condition 1," the highest state of alert, which requires them to remain under cover...
Alarmed by the violence, President Gemayel dispatched a three-man Cabinet delegation to the Chouf to negotiate an end to the fighting. It included a Druze, a Shi'ite Muslim and a Maronite. The three ministers met with Sheik Muhammad Abu Shaqra, spiritual leader of the Druze community, and then set off, with their armed escort, on the return trip to Beirut. They were soon intercepted by Druze gunmen and taken to Jumblatt's home in the town of Mukhtara. Jumblatt was not there, and it was unclear whether he even knew of the abductions. Abu Shaqra sped...
Next day the ministers were released and returned safely to Beirut, where they relayed a list of ten demands from the Druze to Gemayel. The list included a call for the resignation of Prime Minister Chafik al Wazzan and his Cabinet. Wazzan immediately restated the government's intention to send the army into any areas vacated by foreign troops, which could lead to a confrontation with the Druze when the Israelis conduct their withdrawal from the Chouf some time before October. But after an emergency meeting of Christian and Muslim leaders, Information Minister Roger Shikhani announced that some...