Word: syrians
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...former Soviet state in 18 months. This remarkable turn toward democracy has not been limited to the former USSR; in the last three months, post-Saddam Iraq has held its first democratic elections, Palestinians have freely elected the moderate Mahmoud Abbas, demonstrators have caused the downfall of the Syrian puppet-government in Lebanon and created fierce pressure for Syria to withdraw its troops, Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s ruler for 24 years, has scheduled multiparty presidential elections for later this year, and even Saudi Arabia has held its first municipal elections. Around the world, people are casting off oppressive...
Furthermore, once given a good push by the Bush administration, the spread of democracy has signs of being a virtuous cycle—it’s contagious, and the virus is spreading. No one claims a direct causal link between war in Iraq and Syrian pullout from Lebanon; however, the example of self-determination and democracy in Iraq has made people question autocratic rule at home. They have begun to believe that change is possible in their home country and know that the U.S. will support reformists’ efforts. The Iraqi elections have undoubtedly heartened the Lebanese demonstrators...
Even as the suicide drivers brought more terror to a long-suffering area, a Syrian-sponsored meeting of Lebanese Muslim leaders was gathering in Damascus to hammer out a new peace plan for Lebanon. After more than eleven hours of talks, Shi'ite, Sunni and Druze leaders announced a 16-point agreement. The accord was significant in that for the first time it proposed power sharing between Muslims and Christians on an equal basis. The agreement also promised to tighten security at the Beirut airport, a pledge that received warm approval from the Reagan Administration...
...Middle East. According to Israeli state radio, the Soviets last week offered to renew diplomatic ties with Israel, which Moscow broke in 1967 during the Six-Day War, and to allow increased emigration of the Soviet Union's estimated 2.5 million Jews. Moscow's asking price: an Israeli-Syrian agreement on the Golan Heights, part of which Israel seized from Syria during the 1967 war and formally annexed...
While the debate was going on, a new Syrian-backed security proposal was going into effect in Lebanon, initially with promising results. Some 200 red-bereted policemen, backed by 400 Lebanese soldiers and Syrian observers, took over security in Muslim West Beirut and at Beirut International Airport. For the first time in several weeks, militiamen all but disappeared from the city's streets, and the offices of the various Muslim militia groups were shut down. The changed situation prompted the feuding Christian militias on the other side of Beirut's "green line" to reunite their fighting forces. The Syrians...