Word: syrians
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...mountains were receiving the active military support of both Syria and the Palestine Liberation Organization. There is no question that Syria is providing arms and ammunition to the Druze, in the hope of undermining the Gemayel government. But in the view of most Western observers in Beirut, few Syrian or Palestinian soldiers are involved in the actual fighting...
...mired down by the impasse in Lebanon as were the warring parties themselves. After months of negotiation, the U.S. finally got Israel and Lebanon to agree to the withdrawal of the 36,000 Israeli troops in Lebanon. But that understanding was conditional upon the removal of 60,000 Syrian troops, and Syria, it soon became apparent, had no intention of accepting an agreement that it had played no part in framing. Washington's real aim was to get the foreign troops out of Lebanon in order to give Amin Gemayel a chance to rebuild his country...
...Lebanon, Assad is fanning the flames of hatred among various factions. Pro-and anti-Syrian militias clashed in the northern port of Tripoli last week, while Druze and Christian fighters exchanged fire in the Chouf Mountains southeast of Bei rut. The Druze, who are supported by Syria, have organized a coalition with the deliberate aim of under mining the government of President Amin Gemayel, a Maronite Christian. Earlier this month, government newspapers in Syria bluntly called for Gemayel's resignation. Meanwhile, in an attempt to gain greater leverage over the Palestine Liberation Organization, Assad shored up a rebellion against...
Syria's rehabilitation as a power in the region has been achieved in large part with the help of the Soviet Union. After the Syrians lost $1 billion worth of military equipment, including 86 planes, last year, the Soviets offered an even vaster arsenal. The rearmament, which includes some 75 SA-5 surface-to-air missiles, is estimated to have cost $2 billion. Some 3,000 Soviet advisers are assigned to the Syrian army, and an additional 5,000 Soviet soldiers and technicians maintain the new missile batteries and communication posts. If Syria is able to afford such costly...
...heard from again. Amnesty International, a London-based organization that monitors violations of human rights, has received hundreds of accounts of torture in Syria, ranging from electrical shocks to beatings with steel cables. Much of the torturing is reportedly done in al-Mezze military prison in Damascus. Syrian security forces are also suspected of reaching beyond the country's borders to silence opponents of the regime...