Word: ites
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...biggest impasses is how to rebuild the Lebanese Army. Muslim Cabinet members, especially Shi'ite Amal Leader Nabih Berri and Druze Chieftain Walid Jumblatt, want a restructuring that would weaken the traditional Maronite Christian hold on senior military positions. Christian leaders, notably Phalangist Patriarch Pierre Gemayel and former President Camille Chamoun, are fiercely resisting that course...
...Syrian Sunni Muslim, would find that a new 26-member Cabinet would be large enough to accommodate all of Lebanon's myriad sectarian interests and make a political reality of the dramatic realignment in the country's balance of military power brought about when Shi'ite militiamen seized control of West Beirut in February...
...last week. It surprised most Lebanese and enraged many. For although the proposed Cabinet prudently included representatives from all six of Lebanon's main religious groups, it had only ten seats, and it distributed them in a manner that did less to correct the underrepresentation of Shi'ites and Druze in Lebanese politics than to compound it. Shi'ite Leader Nabih Berri, 44, was given the relatively unimportant portfolio of Justice, Water and Electricity; Druze Chieftain Walid Jumblatt, 35, was offered Transport, Public Works and Tourism. Said one prominent Sunni powerbroker: "I guess Karami thinks that...
...ites remain determined that their recent military victories be reflected in political gains. "Even the defense portfolio was denied us," said Ghassan Siblini, one of Berri's top aides. "What Karami is offering is the status quo, and that is not what we have been fighting for at such a high cost in terms of lives and destruction." Berri demanded that Karami address the Shi'ites' most urgent concerns by establishing two new ministries, one for managing reconstruction and the other for overseeing Israeli-controlled southern Lebanon. "Berri cannot ignore the twin pillars of Shi'ite...
...members, Karami will select at least 26 ministers in order to accommodate all interests. "The cake will be cut a bit thinner but a bit more equitably this time," summed up a Muslim politician. Two of Gemayel's strongest opponents, Druze Chieftain Walid Jumblatt and Shi'ite Leader Nabih Berri, are expected to get important positions, along with the principal Maronite leaders, Pierre Gemaye and Robert Franjieh. Camille Chamoun, the obdurate head of the Christian Lebanese Front, has said he will not serve under Karami, but even he seemed to be showing signs of a change of heart...