Word: ites
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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After the Lebanese Army's heavy shelling of the southern suburbs last month, thousands of Shi'ite Muslim refugees fled to Ras Beirut, a largely Sunni Muslim neighborhood of stylish boutiques and comfortable apartments. Shaia Hoaijan and her five children moved into an abandoned flat. The owner had knocked holes in the roof and poured concrete down the toilet to fend off squatters, but within a week the place was habitable. "The owner's wife burst in and cursed us, demanding that we leave," she says. "But I told her we were not leaving because...
...Islamic fervor of the Shi'ite newcomers worries the more tolerant Sunnis. Posters of Khomeini now hang incongruously next to credit-card signs on shop windows, while ever growing numbers of women wear head scarves. An edgy rug merchant no longer offers browsers sherry, but instead asks, "Iced tea?" The beverage arrives laced with whisky...
Five of the condemned men are Shi'ite Muslims who belong to Iraq's underground and Iran-backed Al Dawa Party. Committed to toppling the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, they plotted the attacks to punish Kuwait, France and the U.S. for allegedly supporting Iraq in its 42-month war against Iran. Yet the attempt proved to be both ill-managed and ill-starred. Most of the blast from a car bomb outside the French embassy was absorbed by a thick brick wall. Another car bomb, meant to wreck a local petrochemical complex, exploded outside the compound...
...tremors from the December bombings may not subside for a while. With as many as 30% of its 1.6 million people Shi'ites, Kuwait is highly vulnerable to those who aim to spread Islamic fundamentalism throughout the Middle East. "Now the whole question of Shi'ite Muslim vs. Sunni Muslim has been reopened in our society," notes the publisher of an influential Kuwaiti newspaper. "If there is any destructive force within our country, it is the sectarian issue." That the issue is incendiary was proved at the conclusion of the 45-day trial. The terrorists were whisked away...
Among the opposition delegates, Shi'ite Leader Nabih Bern, Sunni Leader Rashid Karami and Jumblatt all supported the retention of a unified system for Lebanon but called for a diminution of Christian power. They accepted reluctantly the proposition that the presidency should remain in Maronite hands, but they wanted the powers of the job trimmed. One proposal was that the Prime Minister, traditionally a Sunni Muslim, should be given more authority, including the right to veto top-level appointments in the army and civil service. Since "the post of army commander has customarily gone to a Maronite, the Christian...