Word: sunni
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...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...
After the Lebanese Army's heavy shelling of the southern suburbs last month, thousands of Shi'ite Muslim refugees fled to Ras Beirut, a largely Sunni Muslim neighborhood of stylish boutiques and comfortable apartments. Shaia Hoaijan and her five children moved into an abandoned flat. The owner had knocked holes in the roof and poured concrete down the toilet to fend off squatters, but within a week the place was habitable. "The owner's wife burst in and cursed us, demanding that we leave," she says. "But I told her we were not leaving because...
...from the December bombings may not subside for a while. With as many as 30% of its 1.6 million people Shi'ites, Kuwait is highly vulnerable to those who aim to spread Islamic fundamentalism throughout the Middle East. "Now the whole question of Shi'ite Muslim vs. Sunni Muslim has been reopened in our society," notes the publisher of an influential Kuwaiti newspaper. "If there is any destructive force within our country, it is the sectarian issue." That the issue is incendiary was proved at the conclusion of the 45-day trial. The terrorists were whisked away...
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...
...find a way out of his quandary, which is not totally out of the question. He must form a new government, since Prime Minister Chafik al Wazzan resigned a month ago. But he will not be able to find a new Prime Minister, who traditionally must be a Sunni Muslim, until the treaty issue is resolved. As a leading Lebanese politician described the situation last week: "No Sunni Muslim who wants to keep his name clean within his community would dare allow himself to be considered for Prime Minister without abrogation of the treaty. He would be considered a quisling...