December 2–4: The last three American hostages in Lebanon are freed. The
longest-held is Terry Anderson, a reporter for the Associated Press kidnapped in March
1985.
December 10:Peace talks between Israeli and Arab delegations begin in Washington,
D.C., as a follow-up to the Madrid conference. The talks, opened late because of
delays, will adjourn on December 18 with little or no progress to report.
December 16:The UN General Assembly repeals its 1975 resolution equating Zion-
ism with racism.
1992
February 16:Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy in southern Lebanon, killing
Hizballah leader Abbas al-Musawi along with his wife and son. Musawi’s deputy,
Hassan Nasrallah, assumes leadership of the organization.
March 31:The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 748, imposing sanctions
against Libya unless it extradites officials indicted for the December 1988 bombing
of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
April 15:Mujahidin rebel factions occupy Kabul. President Najibullah takes refuge in
a UN compound.
April 25:Afghan mujahidin agree on a power-sharing arrangement, and rebel com-
mander Burhannuddin Rabbani takes office in June as interim president.
June 23:The Labor Party wins elections in Israel in its first outright victory since 1974.
July 13:Yitzhak Rabin takes office as Israeli prime minister and says he is committed
to advancing peace talks with Arabs.
August 23–October 11:Lebanon holds its first elections since 1972.
August 26:The United States, Britain, and France establish a “no-fly” zone in south-
ern Iraq to protect Shiites against aerial attacks by the Iraqi air force.
September 9:Syrian president Hafiz al-Assad publicly states that he is willing to nego-
tiate a peace agreement with Israel. A round of talks between Israeli and Syrian
diplomats later in September will make little headway.
October 22:Rafiq Hariri, a construction magnate, takes office as the new prime min-
ister of Lebanon.
1993
January 13:U.S., British, and French warplanes bomb military targets in Baghdad in
response to Iraq’s stationing of antiaircraft missiles in the “no-fly” zone of southern
Iraq.
January 20:Israeli and PLO representatives hold secret talks in Norway under Nor-
wegian government sponsorship. The preceding day, the Israeli Knesset had revoked
a law banning official and unofficial contact with members of the PLO.
June 26:The United States launches cruise missiles against Iraqi intelligence agency
headquarters in Baghdad, charging that Iraq had supported an unsuccessful assassi-
nation attempt against former president George H. W. Bush during a visit to Kuwait
in mid-April.
September 9:Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasir Arafat sign
letters of mutual recognition.
September 13:At a White House ceremony, Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres and
PLO negotiator Mahmoud Abbas sign the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-
678 CHRONOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE EAST, 1914–2007