Word: gemayel
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...most vociferous warnings came from Walid Jumblatt, 36, the mercurial, Syrian-supported Druze leader, who has consistently blocked all attempts at a ceasefire. Against the noisy backdrop of almost daily artillery battles between the Lebanese Army and Druze militiamen, Jumblatt called for the resignation of Lebanese President Amin Gemayel's government. Then he said that he had meant the Gemayel Cabinet but not the President. Still later, he insisted that he had been right the first time, and that Gemayel himself should resign. "We will not take part in any government or format with President Gemayel," he declared...
Meanwhile, Pierre Gemayel, father of the President and leader of the right-wing Phalange Party, called for a "popular mobilization" of Christian forces "to support their fighters who are defending the Lebanese entity on the front lines." The war of words between the Druze and the Christians erupted into periodic artillery duels, while the Druze fire against Lebanese Army positions sent shells flying dangerously close to the U.S. Marine base at Beirut International Airport. When President Reagan expressed continued support of President Gemayel's government last week, Jumblatt, who is dependent on Syrian arms supplies, retorted, "The Lebanese people...
...tension has been rising steadily since early January. At that time efforts to arrange a formal cease-fire were stalled by the insistence of Druze negotiators, along with their Syrian sponsors, that Gemayel's government abrogate its May 17 agreement with Israel, an accord that was supposed to be the vehicle for getting both Israeli and Syrian troops out of Lebanon. Convinced that U.S. political pressure will force Reagan to withdraw the 1,800-man Marine contingent, Syrian President Hafez Assad has continued to stand firm with his own 62,000 troops in Lebanon...
...treated on the same basis as Christian and Muslim officers for promotions and other benefits. That seemed fair, except that some 800 Druze officers had failed to show up for army duty after the fighting in the Chouf Mountains began last September. Should their absence now be forgiven? Gemayel offered a compromise solution last week, but Jumblatt rejected...
News of the assassination spread quickly. Lebanon's President, Amin Gemayel, expressed his condolences to U.S. Ambassador Reginald Bartholomew. Former Prime Minister Saeb Salam, a leader in the effort to unite the country's warring factions, called the murder "a flagrant disregard for values and an illustration of how seriously security has deteriorated." Particularly vulnerable at the moment are individual Americans and Frenchmen, partly because the terrorists are finding it increasingly difficult to penetrate the military bases and thus are turning their guns on relatively unprotected civilian targets. Two weeks ago gunmen on a motorbike shot and slightly...