Word: mediterranean
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...military moves; now it is tracking him into the desert, where hydrology rather than revolutionary politics has captured his interest. In a scheme, large even by colonel's standards, Libya is gearing up to mine water from beneath the Sahara Desert and pipe it hundreds of miles to the Mediterranean littoral, where there is an increasingly serious water shortage. The program is not only hugely expensive but also controversial. Says Brian Smith of the Institute of Hydrology in Wallingford, England: "The sociological and environmental risks in this undertaking are enormous...
...Libya, the find was as valuable as the discovery of oil. Although the country has a population of only 3.9 million, more than 90% of the people live along the Mediterranean, where increased demand for water for agriculture and industry is taxing local rain-fed wells. Many have become so saline that they are virtually useless for irrigation purposes. Even in Tripoli, Libya's capital, most of the water has an unpleasant salty taste...
...Cypriot government of President Spyros Kyprianou, the Karachi hijacking presented a dilemma. Cyprus is anxious not to antagonize its Arab neighbors, but is determined to do everything it can to discourage hijackers from landing at Larnaca airport. As soon as the terrorists demanded they be flown to the eastern Mediterranean island, the Cypriot government announced that the jumbo jet would not be allowed to land there. Whether the Cypriots would have remained firm in their resolve if the Pan Am plane had arrived in their air space is uncertain. "But fortunately," sighed one relieved Cypriot official, "our will...
...ACHILLE LAURO. Four Palestinians, armed with Soviet-made submachine guns and hand grenades, in October 1985 seized the Mediterranean cruise liner with more than 400 passengers and crew aboard. The hijackers were persuaded to leave the ship voluntarily during negotiations involving the Egyptian government and Palestinian leaders. U.S. Navy pilots captured them after their surrender. One passenger, wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer, 69, of Manhattan, was murdered in the attack...
...fighters provided cover, 20 American attack planes roared off the deck of the U.S.S. Forrestal, heading southward across the Mediterranean. The A-6 Intruders and A-7 Corsairs closed quickly on the North African coast and zeroed in on their target: a desert airstrip encircled by tanks and protected by surface-to-air missiles...