Word: habib
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Those extraordinary conversations ended one of the ugliest and most inexplicable actions of the ten-week war. In the hills southeast of Beirut, U.S. Negotiator Philip Habib had already secured an agreement in principle that would lead to the evacuation from Lebanon of the 6,000 to 9,000 P.L.O. fighting men in West Beirut. He had just about completed the arrangements for the transfer of the departing P.L.O. forces to other Arab countries, leaving only a few relatively unimportant details still to be settled. The Israelis knew he was making progress, yet they continued to bomb and shell West...
...peace talks. Lebanese Prime Minister Chafik al Wazzan, who had been serving as an intermediary between the P.L.O. and the American negotiators, declared that he could no longer continue to participate while his "beloved Beirut" was being bombarded. With tears of outrage in his eyes, the Prime Minister told Habib that if the Israelis were bent on destroying Beirut and its people, "then let them kill us all now and get it over with, and let you and the U.S. bear the consequences." Wazzan's performance was both heartfelt and effective. So was the telephone call that P.L.O. Chairman...
...request was out of the question. Taking up the argument, the Moroccan-born David Levy, another Deputy Prime Minister, who has been a consistent critic of Sharon, declared, "The country is confused. Government decisions are being violated: steps are being taken without government approval. These things are endangering the [Habib] agreement and our relations with...
...Israelis belittled Habib's overtures. To members of Begin's Cabinet, the envoy's letter was couched in precisely the same vague diplomatese that has come to infuriate the Israelis in their dealings with the American. Habib's letter was peppered with such phrases as "I have reason to believe" and "We can assume," according to an Israeli official familiar with its contents. Begin even quoted some of the phrases in his letter to President Reagan to show his skepticism about the Habib mission. With all its hedges, Habib's proposal seemingly reinforced the growing...
...Thursday, the P.L.O. forwarded a new set of proposals, including a timetable for leaving Beirut, to Lebanese Prime Minister Chafik Wazzan. Despite the effects of the Israeli bombardment, Wazzan managed to deliver the proposals to Habib, who in turn passed them on to Jerusalem. The working plan reportedly involved a 14-day period for the withdrawal. On the first day, the 6,000 guerrillas in West Beirut would pull back to refugee camps and be replaced by an international peace-keeping force, including troops from the U.S. and other countries. In the next three days, Palestinians bound for Jordan...