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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Lebanon
Index
During the first months of intermittent combat between Muslims
and Christians, Franjiyah refused to commit the army to separate
the combatants. On May 23, however, he took the unorthodox and
unprecedented step of appointing a military cabinet. Muslim
Brigadier Nur ad Din Rifai, retired commander of the Internal
Security Force, was named prime minister. Rifai selected the
controversial Ghanim as his minister of defense; all other cabinet
ministers except one were also military officers.
Franjiyah's motives were difficult to discern. Some believed
his move was part of a plot to cement Maronite dominance of the
government. Others believed he was attempting to force the
recalcitrant army to intervene in the fighting. Perhaps Franjiyah
sincerely thought that a strong interconfessional military
government with unquestionable authority over the army could avert
widespread conflict, although Lebanon's democracy would be
sacrificed. Indeed, Syrian foreign minister Abdal Halim Khaddam
reportedly warned Lebanese politicians that the Lebanese Army was
capable of uniting its ranks, staging a coup d'état, and imposing
a military dictatorship.
Nevertheless, Lebanon's first and last military government was
short lived, resigning two days after its inception. Even when
installed in the government, the army proved unwilling or incapable
of exerting authority in Lebanon. The resignation of the military
government demonstrated the power vacuum in Lebanese politics and
served as the catalyst to conflict. The rival military factions
intensified their fighting, and full-fledged civil war began in
earnest.
Data as of December 1987
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