 (Translated freely: By Elias Bejjani) Arab kings and Presidents agreed in 1976 to put an end to the Lebanese crisis and to deter Syria from monopolizing the country. They decided accordingly to setup an Arabic military force, initially named "Arabic Security forces", and later on the "Arabic deterrent forces". These forces were composed of troops from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and from other Arabic countries. In the beginning of April that year (1976), the Arabic Deterrent Forces started arriving to Lebanon, and immediately took positions on the front lines, in a bid to put an end to the war. Initially they were successful, to a great extent in their mission and the Lebanese were both, pleased and hopeful. Syria on the other side was not delighted to see these positive changed take place. It was extremely annoyed because the movement of its troops was restricted and accordingly unable to instigate fights and create problems among the Lebanese. Syria gave its troops bold instructions to harass, intimidate, humiliate and irritate Saudi and Sudan officers and soldiers. Because of this Syrian behavioral scheme the Arabic Deterrent Forces started gradually to lose its status as well as its respect and ultimately withdraw, leaving Lebanon under mere Syrian hegemony. The Lebanese people dealt cautiously with the Syrian troops and encountered several difficulties and problems with them. These troops were forced to retreat and withdraw from many strategic positions. The writer and a number of Saudi officers were assigned to supervise the withdrawal procedure of a Syrian contingent from the Quarantina bridges area. Lebanese citizens informed us the Syrian contingent soldiers were breaking into factories and looting them. The Saudi officers tried hardly to check on the matter, but Syrians stopped them from carrying their inspection assignment. The Syrians disguised their ransacking acts by saying: "these matters are military taboos, no one is allowed to check on them". The Saudi officers felt helpless and frustrated, but focused on securing a quite and peaceful Syrian Withdrawal from the area. When the Syrian trucks and armored vehicles started to leave the Quarantine area, the Syrian soldiers were raising their hand in the air joyfully with signals of victory as if they have already conquered Israeli's capital and recaptured the Syrian occupied Golan Heights. While the Syrian military convoy was moving out of the area, a tent-cover laid over the trunk of one of the trucks fell down. It was clear the trunk was not loaded with armaments, but hundreds of boot and shoeboxes stolen from A Bata shoe factory located in the area, in addition to a number of refrigerators. The high-ranking Saudi officer was taken by the unpleasant surprise and could not believe what he was seeing. He shook his head angrily, covered both eyes with his hands and said bitterly: "What a humiliation to the Arabs, what a humiliation". He then looked at me with sorrow and pain to add: "I apologize on behalf of all the Arabs, these shameful acts has nothing to do with our traditions, habits or ethics, these people are stupid, their acts humiliated us all". He also said, "we were officially informed that the Syrian troops have ransacked Beirut Air Port equipment, many villages, and destroyed several factories in Beirut and its suburbs and looted them. The officer ended his apologetic statement by saying "We are entrusted to protect Lebanon, this dear country to our hearts, its people protected our Arabic language and safeguarded our heritage". Long Live Free Lebanon Australia. December 11, 1998 |