Word: habib
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...first glimmer that Habib's talkathon might be paying off came early in the week, when Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin made the surprising announcement that his Cabinet had unanimously voted "to put no time limit whatsoever" on Habib's efforts to solve the problem through diplomatic channels. At the outset of the crisis, Begin had darkly hinted that Secretary of State Alexander Haig's envoy had only a week to work his magic, or Israel would attack the missiles. Two days after the Cabinet meeting, in what seemed to be a reassuring signal to Syria...
...last best hope for peace in the area, was as tight-lipped as ever about his mission. "I know you guys have to make a living too," he told reporters, "but this is a serious effort that in no way would be served by public comment." Habib has skillfully managed to cool tempers during his meetings with Begin and Assad. Remarks an American diplomat involved in the shuttle: "He has a knack for timing, knowing when to act as conceptualizer one moment and a street-wise Brooklyn type the next...
After three tense and exhausting weeks on the diplomatic trail, Habib could already be credited with helping to forestall an Israeli air raid on the missile sites. But the future joustings of bitter Middle Eastern rivalries remained uncertain, even if the immediate crisis could be resolved. Said a Western diplomat: "I hate to think that he might have to live like this for a couple of years...
Increasingly it appeared that the key to a solution of the present threat might lie with Saudi Arabia, where Habib had spent two days in talks with Crown Prince Fahd and other Saudi officials. The Saudis deeply fear that if a Syrian-Israeli confrontation were to take place, the Soviets would strengthen their influence in the region. Damascus and Moscow signed a 20-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation last October. In the Saudi view, a military conflict might also foster radical politics in the area, posing yet another threat to stability and conservative Arab regimes...
...addition to the Saudi aid to Syria, the essential elements of the deal Habib was trying to shape consisted of two basic parts. First, Lebanese army units would occupy Zahle and the strategic Sannin Ridge, several miles northwest of the city, so bitterly fought over by the Syrians and the Christian Phalangists. Initially, the Lebanese units would be under Syrian control, but in time command could shift to officers sympathetic to the Christians. Second, the Syrians would quietly remove their SA-6 missiles from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, possibly after a formal request from the Lebanese government. Israel...