Word: habib
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Israel pounds Beirut, Habib inches toward a possible settlement...
...bloodiest weeks since the Israeli siege of Beirut began nearly two months ago, there were hopeful signs late last week that a diplomatic solution to the Lebanese crisis might yet be found. The quest for peace was being led by U.S. Special Middle East Envoy Philip Habib, who shuttled to Jerusalem and Beirut after a tour of Arab capitals and talks with Jordan's King Hussein in London. Said a top U.S. official: "His trip moved us ahead. We got some specific commitments, enough to make things credible for the P.L.O." And at his press conference last week, President...
...their visit to Washington, Saud and Khaddam endorsed a new plan for getting the P.L.O. out of Beirut: the guerrillas would first withdraw to other parts of Lebanon. At week's end Philip Habib, the U.S. special envoy in the Middle East, was reportedly hammering out a detailed version: the P.L.O. would go to Tripoli in northern Lebanon, while the Israelis would withdraw to Damur, twelve miles south of Beirut. This would be the first stage in a phased withdrawal of all P.L.O., Syrian and Israeli forces from Lebanon...
...agreement would be contingent partly on finding somewhere else for the P.L.O. fighters to go later. Habib, at Reagan's orders, took off last week on a swing through Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt (he will also visit Israel) to try to persuade those countries to take in some of the guerrillas. Saud and Khaddam made clear in Washington that their countries would agree to house P.L.O. troops only if the U.S. committed itself to speeding up negotiations for Palestinian self-determination. To the Arabs, that means direct U.S. dealings with the P.L.O., in exchange for P.L.O. recognition...
Despite those risks, Begin's sentiments turned more bellicose late in the week. "He wanted to give Habib as much time as he could," said a Begin aide. "But he's absolutely determined that the result of this operation, having cost so much blood, must be the evacuation of the P.L.O. from Beirut." During a military ceremony on Thursday, Sharon, too, adopted a more militant posture. Said he: "We have not returned the sword to the sheath and will not do so until the last of the terrorists has left Beirut...