Word: karami
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...naming Rashid Karami his country's new Prime Minister last week, Lebanese President Amin Gemayel truly opted for a man with experience: since 1955 Karami, 62, had held the job nine times. Yet, as accustomed as he is to being Lebanon's man for all crises, Karami's tenth try is likely to be the toughest of all. He must form a Cabinet that reflects both the hopes for peace and the desires for power of his country's warring religious factions. "Let us bury our hatreds and sectarian prejudices," Karami implored his countrymen after...
...Karami follows Chafik al Wazzan, who resigned in February just before fighting erupted between the Lebanese Army and Muslim militias. The battle almost toppled the Gemayel presidency. It also hastened the departure of the U.S. Marines and brought Lebanon more deeply under Syrian control. The Lebanese Prime Minister is traditionally a Sunni Muslim, just as the President is traditionally a Maronite Christian, but Karami met the far more important requirement of enjoying the strong support of Syrian President Hafez Assad. Gemayel made his decision after meeting with the Syrian leader two weeks...
While Wazzan's Cabinet had ten 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...
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...
...Gemayel does survive, it will only be with Syrian support. Besides abandoning the May 17 accord, he could be forced to appoint as Prime Minister a Syrian sympathizer like former Prime Minister Rashid Karami. Gemayel would have to loosen his ties with Israel and reduce Lebanon's dependence on Washington. Whatever happens, Syria is virtually certain to have additional leverage over Lebanon...