Word: jumblatts
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...assault infuriated Amal Leader Nabih Berri, who is known as one of Lebanon's more pragmatic opposition figures. For the first time, he joined Druze Chieftain Walid Jumblatt in calling for Gemayel's resignation. More important, he urged three Muslim members of the Cabinet to quit, prompting Wazzan, a Sunni Muslim, to quit as well. Gemayel tried frantically but failed to find a respected Muslim politician to replace Wazzan (according to Lebanese political tradition, the Prime Minister is always a Sunni while the President is a Maronite Christian). Gemayel then appeared on TV, offering an eight-point plan...
...week's end the chances for Gemayel's survival improved slightly. After meeting in Damascus for two days, the leaders of the National Salvation Front, including Jumblatt, former President Suleiman Franjieh and former Prime Minister Rashid Karami, listed their demands. The trio asked for a hand in rebuilding the Lebanese Army and rescinding legislative decrees that they contended favor the Christians; as expected, the group also insisted on scrapping the May 17 Israeli-Lebanese accord. Significantly, the front did not call for Gemayel's resignation. His aides greeted the declaration with guarded optimism. According to a Gemayel...
With that victory, however, the army began to crack along sectarian lines. At the urging of Druze Leader Jumblatt, some 800 Druze soldiers deserted. With the defection of thousands of Shi'ites last week, the army was on the verge of collapse. If Gemayel orders his commanders to retake West Beirut, fighting could easily break out among army regulars...
...Berri and Jumblatt, ironically, could still save the army as an institution. Although they called upon Muslim soldiers not to fight last week, both leaders want to preserve the units that support them. If and when a political settlement is reached that gives them a greater share of power, Berri and Jumblatt do not want to face the task of rebuilding an army from scratch...
...leading civilian contenders for the job would include Raymond Eddé, age 70, a Maronite political exile living in Paris, and Suleiman Franjieh, 73, a Maronite who served as President of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976 and is now an ally of Jumblatt's in the Syrian-backed National Salvation Front. Eddé, who went into exile because of fears of assassination, is the country's most popular politician, mainly because of his gilt-edged reputation for honesty. He is also stubborn, which would probably earn him a veto from Syria. Franjieh, on the other hand, is obviously...