Word: syrian
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...bombers were evidently determined to destroy it. Many Lebanese speculated that General Michel Aoun, the bitterest foe of the Arab League peace plan and the commander of fanatically loyal Christian forces in East Beirut, was behind the killing. Aoun has been outraged that the plan permits 40,000 Syrian troops to remain indefinitely in Lebanon. He had pronounced Moawad's election void and vowed to throw out the Syrians. Aoun is too weak to achieve that goal but was strong enough to cause havoc. Before the assassination, thousands of his mostly youthful supporters crowded into the courtyard of his bombed...
Despite the courage of Lebanon's parliamentarians, the fear in Beirut, spawning an exodus of thousands, is that Aoun's soldiers might clash with Syrian troops. A Syrian-supported attack on Aoun's stronghold is likely if, after a face-saving interval, the general does not accept the new government's authority. By week's end he had taken no action hostile to the government beyond denouncing Hraoui's election as illegitimate. Hraoui, on the other hand, swiftly moved to assert his powers by dismissing the three-man interim Cabinet that has been serving under Aoun...
...wildest allegation so far, an internal report by an investigator for Pan Am's insurance carrier suggests that the CIA unwittingly allowed the bomb aboard Flight 103 to protect a hostage-for-drugs operation. The report states that Monzer al Kassar, a Syrian arms dealer, was permitted to ship drugs through a "protected" route at Frankfurt in exchange for promises to help free American hostages in Lebanon. The subpoenas filed by Pan Am suggest that the CIA may even have a videotape of the bomb-laden suitcase being loaded in Frankfurt. The CIA and British authorities categorically deny these allegations...
Moawad is opposed by General Michel Aoun, commander of the fanatically loyal Christian army in East Beirut. Aoun is enraged that, as part of the peace plan, Moawad is willing to diminish Christian political power and let 40,000 Syrian troops continue to occupy large parts of Lebanon...
General Michel Aoun, the Lebanese Christian leader, rejected the agreement promptly because it provides no timetable for the withdrawal of occupying Syrian forces. Also opposed were militia commanders of Lebanon's large Shi'ite Muslim community, who want to abolish rather than readjust sectarian quotas. Yet the latest eight-month round of fighting has wearied most of the beleaguered country, and there were some signs that both Aoun and Shi'ite leaders would eventually be persuaded to fall into line...