Word: tyre
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...terrorists who launched suicidal attacks against the American and French headquarters in Beirut and Israeli army ofr fices in Tyre two months ago. Based hi Baalbek, which is in Syrian-controlled eastern Lebanon, the Iranians acted under the auspices of Islamic Amal, a radical Shi'ite Muslim militia that broke away from the larger and more moderate Amal organization in early 1982. But they could not have undertaken the murderous task if Syria had disapproved. Says a Western diplomat: "The Syrians did not control and organize the operations, but certain elements in the Syrian regime knew what was going...
...months when the French claimed Syria under a League of Nations mandate. To weaken the Arab nationalist movement, the French created contemporary Lebanon by carving from Syria the Christian region around Mount Lebanon, the predominantly Muslim Bekaa Valley and the coastal cities of Tripoli, Beirut, Sidon and Tyre. Even as they never forgave the Crusaders who overran their homeland, the Syrians have never absolved the French for taking territory from them. After World War II, France reluctantly departed, and Syria became an independent republic. The Syrians still celebrate April 17, the date of the 1946 French withdrawal, as Evacuation...
...mobilization drill of its reservists; the last time a public call to duty occurred was in 1978. Both countries described their actions as routine, but the activity fed speculation about possible retaliation for the suicidal attacks against the U.S. Marine compound in Beirut* and an Israeli military base in Tyre. In response, Syrian President Hafez Assad placed his country's armed forces on alert too, including the calling up of an estimated 100,000 reservists. Washington and Jerusalem both publicly assured Assad that they had no intention of attacking Syria, but a suspicious Assad surely noted that...
...rest of Lebanon also seemed like one long battlefront. After the Tyre bombing, which killed 28 Israelis and 32 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli army closed two bridges across the Awali River, its northern defense line in Lebanon, in effect sealing off the south from the rest of the country. Shi'ite Muslim leaders responded by calling a one-day general strike, shutting down nearly all stores and banks. The Israelis reopened the bridges after four days, but vehicles were inspected so painstakingly that traffic was reduced to a trickle...
...moreover, would reap a bitter diplomatic harvest. Israel, which responded to the Tyre explosion by bombing Palestinian and Syrian military positions, usually can hit back and stay within the brackets of the Middle East military equation. For a superpower, such a response would reverberate dangerously and complicate Washington's other goals. Meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth Dam last week, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher warned that Britain would not support U.S. strikes against Syrian targets. U.S. Special Envoy Donald Rumsfeld, who was appointed to his post two weeks ago, planned to stop in London to see Thatcher...