Word: gemayel
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...Gemayel was working on more immediate problems when disaster struck. He had gone to his party headquarters on Tuesday to discuss plans for the Christian militias in East Beirut to hand over their weapons to the Lebanese army. The meeting had barely begun when the huge bomb on the third floor was detonated...
...killed Gemayel? There was no shortage of suspects. He was hated by the leftist Muslim militias and by the Syrians. The P.L.O. had been his enemy for years. There was also a theory advanced by Arab leaders in Lebanon that Israel was behind the bombing because Gemayel was resisting pressure from the Begin government to sign a peace treaty. The U.S. dismissed such conjecture, pointing out that Israel's interests would best be served by having a strong neighbor on its northern border. But, as one U.S. analyst noted, "it says a great deal about current sentiment in Lebanon that...
...Gemayel also had powerful enemies within the Maronite Christian community. The family of former President Suleiman Franjieh had a score to settle with the Gemayels. In 1978, Franjieh's eldest son Tony was killed by men believed to be Phalangists, and the old man swore vengeance. The Lebanese leftists and the Palestinians may have hated Gemayel, but could they have managed to plant a bomb inside the Phalange headquarters? Presumably it would have been easier for one of the Christian factions, which might have had friends inside the Phalange who were ready to enter into a conspiracy...
While Lebanon's leaders were struggling to settle the political crisis that followed Gemayel's death, the Israelis were busy taking over West Beirut, a goal long desired by Israeli Defense Minister Sharon but denied him by the peace talks led by U.S. Special Envoy Habib. The local Muslim population was alarmed at the Israeli advance: most of the Palestinian guerrillas were gone, and the French, Italian and American peace-keeping forces had also departed. Just before an Israeli column reached the U.S. embassy in West Beirut, the Israeli troops were ordered by radio to avoid shooting at the embassy...
...justify their move into West Beirut, the Israelis said it was necessary, after Gemayel's death, to prevent bloodshed. The Israeli Cabinet also claimed that 2,000 P.L.O. fighters had remained in the city in "blatant violation of the departure agreement." Declared Begin: "The terrorists cheated us. Not all of them got out. They deceived Philip Habib too. They left behind a considerable number of terrorists, together with their arms...