Word: syrian
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Squadrons of Syrian tanks rolled into position around the southern suburbs of Beirut last week, their cannon muzzles pointed menacingly at the 16-sq.-mi. enclave. Two Syrian armored brigades, supported by two battalions of President Hafez Assad's elite Special Forces commandos, crouched behind barricades ringing the Shi'ite Muslim slums. Since May 6, fierce battles between rival militias had raged through the streets and alleys, causing many of the area's 250,000 residents to flee. In bloody hand-to-hand combat, the fanatical, pro- Iranian Hizballah had driven the more moderate, Syrian-backed Amal...
...upper hand in the fighting. Reason: a total victory by the Islamic militants would threaten Syria's long-standing goal of controlling Lebanon's territory and dominating its domestic politics. Considering Lebanon to be a kind of buffer zone safeguarding Syria's own security, Assad has some 25,000 Syrian troops deployed around the country, in part to prevent Hizballah and Iran from turning it into an Islamic republic...
...quarter reflected Assad's hope of reaching a political compromise. Despite the growing rivalry with Iran over Lebanon, Syria has no desire to rupture relations. The two countries, in fact, are strategic allies in Iran's 7 1/2-year-old war against their mutual enemy, Iraq. Moreover, the Syrian President knows that his troops could suffer high casualties in a clash with the entrenched Islamic zealots...
...image as a sponsor of terrorism, is concerned for the safety of the 16 American and other foreign hostages thought to be held by Hizballah or other militants. Because many of the captives are believed to be held in bullet-scarred buildings in the southern suburbs, any precipitous Syrian military action there could endanger them. Some Western diplomats held out hope that the growing Syrian pressure on Hizballah could provide a new opportunity for the release of some hostages. Exploring that chance, Lieut. General Vernon Walters, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, held talks with Assad in Damascus last week...
...time a truce was declared Thursday, at least 188 were dead and hundreds more wounded, making it the worst eruption of violence since Syrian troops moved into West Beirut in early 1987. The hostilities left the surprisingly strong Hizballah fighters in control of 70% of the disputed territory, a 16-sq.-mi. district of crowded slums that is home to 250,000 Shi'ites. Fighting was suspended after telephone consultations between Syrian President Hafez Assad and Iranian President Ali Khamenei. But the next day, the fragile alliance between Damascus and Tehran was taxed as Hizballah fighters broke the truce, drawing...