Word: militiamen
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...daylight hours, the cratered, potholed streets are crowded. Beirutis whose cars have not been stolen drive around the city with an ear cocked for bursts of gunfire, signs that militiamen are approaching in their Jeeps and battered cars. Generally the gunmen shoot their automatic weapons into the air as they career around a corner, warning other drivers to clear a lane. But they can get ornery if anyone blocks their way. Many a hesitant motorist has had his tires shot out from under...
...unlikely leader for a band of bearded, wild-shooting, anti- American militiamen. Nabih Berri, 46, is invariably clean-shaven and speaks softly in the precise phrases of the lawyer he was trained to be. He regularly visits a former wife and six children, who live in Dearborn, Mich. He carries a green card entitling him to permanent residency in the U.S., apparently to allow him to visit his American family freely. In Beirut he has often attended the private get-togethers held by U.S. Ambassador Reginald Bartholomew for Lebanese factional leaders...
...invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon. As a Minister in Lebanon's so-called government of National Unity, he participated in negotiations aimed at getting Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon although many Shi'ites felt that Lebanon should not even talk to the Israelis. He and his Amal militiamen helped secure the release of one American and a Frenchman kidnaped by extremists early last year. Berri has continued to attend Lebanese Cabinet meetings, even though many of his followers have wanted nothing to do with the central government. But the government exists primarily on paper, and moderation...
...made his hold on power any more secure. Despite being a devout Muslim who prays daily and shuns alcohol, he believes in separation of church and state. That puts him at odds with the Shi'ite Party of God, which advocates an Islamic state. Many of his own Amal militiamen carry pictures of Iran's Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini on leather thongs around their necks. Says one Washington intelligence source with expertise on the Lebanese Shi'ites: "Berri may be well known and popular among Shi'ites, but if you ask, 'Does he have control?' the answer is no." If Berri...
...unrestrained journalistic zeal was evident at the hostages' press conference. Photographers surged around the prisoners, shutters clicking madly, while other cameramen jumped up on the table for a better angle. Angered by the chaos, an Amal spokesman abruptly ended the proceedings, which only triggered more shouting and shoving. Militiamen pounced on photographers and reporters, smashing cameras and seizing tape recorders. Fifteen minutes later, after the journalists promised to maintain calm, the session was resumed. In another incident, a Lebanese Shi'ite driver working for Newsweek reached the plane by passing himself off as a relative of the hijackers...