Word: lebanons
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Gulf crisis remains unresolved, but it has already produced its first clear-cut winner: Syrian President Hafez Assad. By crushing Aoun's 11- month rebellion once and for all, Assad has expanded his already considerable influence over his western neighbor. Under ordinary circumstances, an extension of Syrian hegemony in Lebanon would have provoked alarm in several foreign capitals, especially Washington and Jerusalem. But by strongly supporting the U.S.-led alliance against Saddam Hussein, Assad has won a wide berth for exercising his might. While denying speculation that Washington acquiesced to Syria's raid on Aoun's forces...
There is at least a chance that it may do that. The routing of Aoun eliminated the greatest obstacle to implementation of the Taif peace agreement, a plan approved by Lebanon's National Assembly a year ago that would give the country's Muslim majority an equal share of power with the long-dominant Christians. Aoun, who escaped during the fighting to the French embassy, where he remained holed up last week, had revolted against the accord because it provided no timetable for the withdrawal of Syrian forces in Lebanon, who number 40,000. France has granted Aoun asylum...
...members of the anti-Saddam alliance have their own goals to pursue. Last week, for example, Lebanese President Elias Hrawi asked Syria to help him rout his rival, General Michel Aoun, from his stronghold in Beirut's Christian enclave, thus giving Damascus the opportunity to complete its control of Lebanon at a moment when the world is distracted by other events in the Middle East. Syrian President Hafez Assad ordered thousands of troops to Beirut to beef up the 10,000 Syrian soldiers already there. On Friday a lone gunman shot twice at Aoun, missing the general and wounding...
...attack, and had already taken refuge in the French embassy. By noon, Lebanese forces loyal to Hrawi had taken over Aoun's fiefdom and the French were negotiating safe passage out of the country for the general. Aoun's defeat not only offered Assad unprecedented control over Lebanon but also gave him the satisfaction of defeating a man who had once got his weapons from the Syrian leader's most implacable foe: Saddam Hussein. All of which served as a reminder that while the occupation of Kuwait may be the most pressing issue in the region, it is hardly...
...world order evoke smirks in the suqs of such cities as Algiers, Tunis, Damascus and Amman. "All the Americans want is control of the oil," says Abdul Hamid Sadiq, a Syrian archaeologist. Principle, he adds, means nothing to a country that "ignored the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the occupation of Jerusalem and the daily maiming and killing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank...