Christian Maronite east Beirut residents stage rally in front of French embassy to support General Michel Aoun’s refusal to accept Taif agreement. AFP
Christian Maronite east Beirut residents stage rally in front of French embassy to support General Michel Aoun’s refusal to accept Taif agreement. AFP

1989 - The Taif peace pact for Lebanon

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Updated 19 April 2025
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1989 - The Taif peace pact for Lebanon

1989 - The Taif peace pact for Lebanon
  • Saudi Arabia’s determination helped end the Lebanese Civil War

PARIS: The Taif Agreement was the outcome of a concerted attempt by Saudi Arabia to bring an end to the Lebanese Civil War that began in 1975. 

Other parties involved in the process included Syria’s President Hafez Assad, the US administration, and the various Lebanese factions fighting in the war. Saudi authorities wanted to find a solution that involved all of those involved, to halt the war and improve upon the 1943 Lebanese National Pact. 

That pact was an unwritten agreement between Lebanese President Bechara El-Khoury and Prime Minister Riad Al-Solh that established an independent Lebanon as a multi-confessional state. It represented a power-sharing arrangement between Christians and Muslims, whereby the president was always required to be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the parliament a Shiite. 

The powers handed down in this way were of particular benefit to Lebanon’s Christians. The civil war required an adjustment to this equilibrium. It also required an adjustment in Lebanon’s relations with the Arab world, during a period in which Assad was growing more powerful with the aim of becoming more influential and hegemonic in Lebanon. 

How we wrote it




Arab News covered the day Lebanese MPs agreed on the national reconciliation charter in Taif, Saudi Arabia to end the civil war.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Saudi Arabia had been a part of all Arab and international efforts to end the war in Lebanon. The Taif Agreement was fathered by Hussein El-Husseini, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament. He visited Saudi Arabia, where he was hosted in Taif under the guidance of the Foreign Minister, Prince Saud bin Faisal, and a Lebanese friend of the Kingdom, a businessman named Rafik Hariri who would later serve as Lebanon’s prime minister from 1992 to 1998 and 2000 to 2004. 

The deal ultimately reached included political reforms that gave full power to the Council of Ministers and greater power to the Muslim prime minister, compared with the previous arrangement whereby power was concentrated in the office of the Christian president. It also established special relations between Lebanon and Syria, and a framework to begin the withdrawal of Syrian forces from the country. 

However, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Sharaa later denied any commitment had been made to Prince Saud for Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. It was only after the assassination of Hariri in 2005 that Syrian forces finally pulled out. 

The Taif Agreement was approved by the Lebanese Parliament on Nov. 5, 1989, the same day Rene Moawad became the country’s president. He held the office for only 18 days before he was killed by a car bomb that claimed his life and 23 others. 

Prior to the Taif Agreement, Saudi Arabia had pushed for peace conferences in Geneva and Lausanne, in 1983 and 1984 respectively, that failed to end the war. However, Saudi authorities continued to mediate, with the involvement of the Arab League Tripartite Committee to Lebanon, under the chairmanship of Prince Saud. 

Key Dates

  • 1

    Fighting between Maronites and Muslims in Lebanon begins when suspected PLO gunmen attack a Christian church in East Beirut, killing 4 people. Phalangists retaliate, killing 30 Palestinians on a bus, triggering widespread fighting.

    Timeline Image April 13, 1975

  • 2

    Arab League summit in Riyadh calls for end to the civil war and creates the peacekeeping Arab Deterrent Force.

  • 3

    Start of the Hundred Days War in Beirut between Christian militias and the mainly Syrian troops of the Arab Deterrent Force.

    Timeline Image Feb. 7, 1978

  • 4

    Israel invades southern Lebanon to halt cross-border attacks by the PLO.

  • 5

    Christian Phalangist Bachir Gemayel, former leader of Lebanese Forces Maronite militia, is elected president.

    Timeline Image Aug. 23, 1982

  • 6

    Gemayel and 26 other high-ranking Phalangists are killed by a bomb planted by a Maronite Christian.

    Timeline Image Sept. 14, 1982

  • 7

    Departing president Amine Gemayal defies precedent and appoints a fellow Maronite Christian, Gen. Michel Aoun, as prime minister, a role traditionally reserved for a Muslim.

    Timeline Image Sept. 22, 1988

  • 8

    Aoun declares war of liberation against Syrian occupation.

    Timeline Image March 14, 1989

  • 9

    Taif Agreement is reached but opposed by Aoun.

  • 10

    Taif Agreement ratified and parliament elects Maronite Christian Rene Moawad as Lebanon’s 13th president.

    Timeline Image Nov. 5, 1989

  • 11

    Moawad assassinated by unknown assailants.

    Timeline Image Nov. 22, 1989

  • 12

    Aoun driven into exile in France by Syrian forces.

  • 13

    Aoun returns to Lebanon after Syrian troops finally withdraw.

  • 14

    Aoun elected president of Lebanon, remains in office until his term ends in 2022.

    Timeline Image Oct. 31, 2016

The representatives on the committee from the other members of the tripartite, Morocco and Algeria, were their foreign ministers, Abdellatif Filali and Sid Ahmed Ghozali respectively. They were joined by the Arab League’s special envoy to Lebanon, Lakhdar Brahimi. Syria’s President Assad, excluded from the committee, was enraged. 

During the last meeting of the committee, in Rabat in 1988, before the Taif process began, the three ministers summoned Al-Sharaa, the Syrian foreign minister, and told him they had proof Syria had been arming both Prime Minister Michel Aoun’s army and the Lebanese Forces, led by Samir Geagea.  

Aoun had been appointed interim prime minister that year by departing president Amine Gemayel, who did not accept Assad’s diktats. 

Assad’s forces responded by pounding the Christian stronghold of Achrafieh. Aoun, protected by French Ambassador Rene Ala, then left for France to begin his long exile.  

Brahimi, the Arab League envoy, enlisted Paris-based Dr. Ghassan Salame, a Lebanese professor of international relations, as an advisor to help establish a ceasefire agreement and prepare for a meeting with Lebanese deputies.  

Concurrently, Brahimi, Salame, and other deputies worked on drafting a text for the deputies to approve and adopt. 

The first report from the committee, issued in mid-July 1989, was perceived by the Syrians as hostile. Assad met Algeria’s President Chadli Bendjedid in Algiers and accused Brahimi of anti-Syrian bias. Prince Saud independently continued his attempts to persuade Syria to agree to a ceasefire. 




Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saul al-Faysal (C), Lebanese Parliament speaker Hussain al-Hussaini (R) and Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmad Ghassali (L) in Taif as discussions on national reconciliation charter began. AFP

As the various efforts to end the war continued, Saudi authorities worked through two negotiators: Hariri and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who between 1983 and 2005 was the Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States. This marked the start of Hariri’s involvement in Lebanese politics. 

King Fahd entrusted Prince Bandar to direct the efforts to find a solution for the situation in Lebanon, and Hariri shuttled between various capital cities to organize a conference in the Kingdom to discuss reforms and the election of a president. 

International pressure, and the continuing efforts of Prince Saud, eventually compelled Syria to accept a ceasefire agreement, paving the way for the drafting of the text for the Taif Agreement by several deputies.  

Hariri managed to persuade the Lebanese deputies to come to the gathering in Taif. They agreed to correct the balance of power in Lebanon, giving more influence to the Council of Ministers and the Muslim prime minister. 

However, Assad disliked Hariri and resisted his appointment as Lebanon’s prime minister for years. Eventually, Assad met Hariri on several occasions, though when Hariri did eventually become prime minister, Assad insisted on having a say in the appointment of certain government ministers. 

Saudi Arabia took the initiative and helped to get the Lebanese Parliament operational, since previous negotiations with militias had failed to achieve peace. Eventually, the Taif Agreement was concluded and implemented but Aoun never accepted its terms. Following the assassination of President Moawad after just 18 days in office, as he returned from Lebanese Independence Day celebrations, Deputy Elias Hrawi, who was favored by the Syrians, was appointed his successor. 

One unforgettable sentence uttered by a brilliant French diplomat, having served in Lebanon, still rings true in view of the disastrous situation that has prevailed there for the past several years: “The political class who made the civil war in Lebanon is still in power, but it cannot succeed in ruling the country.” 

  • Randa Takieddine is a Paris-based Lebanese journalist. She covered the last committee meeting in Rabat before Taif in 1988 for Al-Hayat and headed the newspaper’s bureau in France for 30 years. 


Hegseth directs 20 percent cut to top military leadership positions

Hegseth directs 20 percent cut to top military leadership positions
Updated 14 min 13 sec ago
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Hegseth directs 20 percent cut to top military leadership positions

Hegseth directs 20 percent cut to top military leadership positions
  • In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership”

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday directed the active duty military to shed 20 percent of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration keep pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions.
Hegseth also told the National Guard to shed 20 percent of its top positions.
In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.”
On top of the cuts to the top-tier four-star generals, Hegseth has also directed the military to shed an additional 10 percent of its general and flag officers across the force, which could include any one-star or above or equivalent Navy rank.

 


UN chief says strike on Port Sudan a ‘worrying development’

UN chief says strike on Port Sudan a ‘worrying development’
Updated 35 min 38 sec ago
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UN chief says strike on Port Sudan a ‘worrying development’

UN chief says strike on Port Sudan a ‘worrying development’
  • Army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “targeted Osman Digna Air Base, a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities in the city of Port Sudan with suicide drones”

UNITED NATIONS, United States: UN chief Antonio Guterres is “concerned” by reports that Sudanese paramilitaries for the first time struck Port Sudan, the seat of the army-aligned government during the country’s two-year war, a spokesman said Monday.
“The attack on port Sudan is a worrying development threatening the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations in an area so far spared from experiencing the devastating conflict seen in many other parts of the country,” Farhan Haq told reporters.
He said that Sunday’s attacks “appear to be the latest in a series of retaliatory military operations” conducted by paramilitaries and the army to target airports in each other’s areas of control.
Army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “targeted Osman Digna Air Base, a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities in the city of Port Sudan with suicide drones.”
He reported no casualties and “limited damage.”
AFP images showed smoke above the airport area, about 400 miles (650 kilometers) from the nearest known RSF positions on capital Khartoum’s outskirts.
The RSF, battling the regular army since April 2023, have increasingly used drones since losing territory including much of Khartoum in March.
The paramilitaries led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo are battling the regular army, headed by Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, in a devastating war that has killed tens of thousands and uprooted 13 million.
In the conflict’s early days, the government relocated from Khartoum to Port Sudan, which until Sunday had been spared the violence.
UN agencies have also moved their operations to Port Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge.
Haq said the attacks “have not had a direct impact on the humanitarian operations or activities in Port Sudan,” but said that UN aid flights to and from the city had been temporarily put on hold.
“None of our offices, premises or warehouses have been impacted, and we continue to carry out our regular operations,” he added.

 


New York Times wins 4 Pulitzers, New Yorker 3; Washington Post wins for coverage of Trump shooting

New York Times wins 4 Pulitzers, New Yorker 3; Washington Post wins for coverage of Trump shooting
Updated 44 min 40 sec ago
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New York Times wins 4 Pulitzers, New Yorker 3; Washington Post wins for coverage of Trump shooting

New York Times wins 4 Pulitzers, New Yorker 3; Washington Post wins for coverage of Trump shooting
  • The Pulitzers honored the best in journalism from 2024 in 15 categories, along with eight arts categories including books, music and theater

NEW YORK: The New York Times won four Pulitzer Prizes and the New Yorker three on Monday for journalism in 2024 that touched on topics like the fentanyl crisis, the US military and last summer’s assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.
The Pulitzers’ prestigious public service medal went to ProPublica for the second straight year. Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser, Cassandra Jaramillo and Stacy Kranitz were honored for reporting on pregnant women who died after doctors delayed urgent care in states with strict abortion laws.
The Washington Post won for “urgent and illuminating” breaking news coverage of the Trump assassination attempt. The Pultizers honored Ann Telnaes, who quit the Post in January after the news outlet refused to run her editorial cartoon lampooning tech chiefs — including Post owner Jeff Bezos — cozying up to Trump.
The Pulitzers honored the best in journalism from 2024 in 15 categories, along with eight arts categories including books, music and theater. The public service winner receives a gold medal. All other winners receive $15,000.
The Times’ Azam Ahmed and Christina Goldbaum and contributing writer Matthieu Aikins won an explanatory reporting prize for examining US policy failures in Afghanistan. The newspaper’s Doug Mills won in breaking news photography for his images of the assassination attempt. Declan Walsh and the Times’ staff won for an investigation into the Sudan conflict. Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher won in local reporting, an award shared by the Times and The Baltimore Banner, for reporting on that city’s fentanyl crisis.
The New Yorker’s Mosab Abu Toha won for his commentaries on Gaza. The magazine also won for its “In the Dark” podcast about the killing of Iraqi civilians by the US military and in feature photography for Moises Saman’s pictures of the Sednaya prison in Syria.
 

 


US Army pausing helicopter flights near Washington airport after close calls

US Army pausing helicopter flights near Washington airport after close calls
Updated 30 min 37 sec ago
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US Army pausing helicopter flights near Washington airport after close calls

US Army pausing helicopter flights near Washington airport after close calls
  • Two commercial planes had to abort landings last week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon
  • Pause comes after 67 people died in January when a passenger jet collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter at Reagan airport

WASHINGTON: The Army is pausing helicopter flights near a Washington airport after two commercial planes had to abort landings last week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon.

The commander of the 12th Aviation Battalion directed the unit to pause helicopter flight operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following Thursday’s close calls, two Army officials confirmed to The Associated Press.

The pause comes after 67 people died in January when a passenger jet collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter at Reagan airport.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not publicly announced. The unit is continuing to fly in the greater Washington, D.C., region.

The unit had begun a return to flight within the last week, with plans to gradually increase the number of flights over the next four weeks, according to an Army document viewed by the AP.

Thursday’s close call involved a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

They were instructed by air traffic control to “perform go-arounds” because of a “priority air transport” helicopter, according to an emailed statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The priority air transport helicopters of the 12th battalion provide transport service to top Pentagon officials. It was a Black Hawk priority air transport known as PAT25 that collided with the passenger jet in midair in January.

That crash was the worst US midair disaster in more than two decades. In March, the FAA announced that helicopters would be prohibited from flying in the same airspace as planes near Reagan airport.

The NTSB and FAA are both investigating the latest close call with an Army helicopter.

The Army said after the latest incident that the UH-60 Blackhawk was following published FAA flight routes and air traffic control from Reagan airport when it was “directed by Pentagon Air Traffic Control to conduct a ‘go-around,’ overflying the Pentagon helipad in accordance with approved flight procedures.”

But helicopter traffic remains a concern around that busy airport. The FAA said that three flights that had been cleared for landing Sunday at Reagan were ordered to go around because a police helicopter was on an urgent mission in the area. All three flights landed safely on their second approaches.

The NTSB said after the January crash that there had been an alarming number of close calls near Reagan in recent years, and the FAA should have acted sooner.


Malta brings six crew members off ship in drone strike row

The damaged Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel “Conscience” is anchored at sea outside Maltese territorial waters, after it was bombed
The damaged Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel “Conscience” is anchored at sea outside Maltese territorial waters, after it was bombed
Updated 05 May 2025
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Malta brings six crew members off ship in drone strike row

The damaged Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel “Conscience” is anchored at sea outside Maltese territorial waters, after it was bombed

VALLETTA: Pro-Palestinian activists aboard a boat damaged in an alleged Israeli drone strike have allowed a Maltese surveyor to inspect the vessel and six crew members have agreed to disembark, Malta’s premier told parliament Monday.
Prime Minister Robert Abela has said that Malta could tow the stricken Conscience to port for repairs once a maritime expert has been allowed to board the ship and study the results of Friday’s alleged attack.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition had hoped to pick up supporters, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, in Malta then sail on to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian victims of Israel’s blockade of the territory and renewed military assault against the Hamas militant group.
But, on Friday, a fire broke out on board the vessel after what the group says was a double drone strike, which the activists argue was most likely launched by Israel to halt or delay their mission.
Neither Israel nor Malta, whose vessels intervened to help douse the fire, have confirmed the attack.
But Abela promised that the Conscience will be allowed to continue on its mission once any necessary repairs are concluded. The Flotilla Coalition has welcomed the offer.
“Six people on this ship made a request to come ashore to our country and then immediately leave to their countries,” Abela told parliament Monday.
Previously, the international activists had resisted calls for them to abandon ship, fearing being forced to drop their mission.
“This request was accepted immediately and those people are in the process of being transported to Malta by the Armed Forces of Malta, and they will catch a plane back to their country later today,” the premier said.
Initially, Flotilla Coalition volunteers had said the surveyor would only be allowed on board if the ship was towed into Maltese territorial waters, but Abela said that was not acceptable, as Malta wanted to know more about the condition of the vessel before taking charge of its safety.
Malta also refused a request that three individuals currently not on board be taken out to the Conscience with the inspector.
“The ship’s captain now has accepted that the surveyor is allowed on board while the ship sits outside Malta’s territorial waters, and I’m informed that the surveyor is in process of arriving at the ship,” Abela said.
During an online press conference on Sunday, before Monday’s departure of six crew members, the flotilla group said there were 18 people on board, 12 crew members and six “human rights observers.”


The activists explained the Conscience has no flag because the government of the Pacific nation of Palau had announced that they were withdrawing their registration on Friday, the day of the alleged strike.
Otherwise, they insisted they had made every effort to comply with international maritime law when embarking on the mission to take aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
According to the Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience was attacked in international waters, causing a fire that disabled the vessel and minor injuries to crew members.
Online flight tracking service ADS-B Exchange showed that an Israeli C-130 military cargo plane had been in the area immediately before the incident and had made several low altitude sweeps over the area.
Israel is known for conducting covert operations beyond its borders, including several during the Gaza war that it only acknowledged later.
The activists said the strike appeared to target the boat’s generator.
Thunberg told reporters that the incident should not distract from the focus of the boat’s mission to Gaza.
“What we are doing here is to try our very best to use all the means that we have to do our part, to keep trying to break the inhumane and illegal siege on Gaza and to open up humanitarian corridors,” she said.