Middle East: The Return of Chairman Arafat

A war rages as Palestinian fighters make a comeback

Whatever happened to Yasser Arafat? In the summer of 1982 the redoubtable chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization was driven out of Lebanon by Israeli invaders, and his forces scattered throughout the Arab world. The elusive Arafat skipped to Tunisia, where he pursued the P.L.O.'s diplomatic and military strategies, including a failed joint peace effort with an old adversary, Jordan's King Hussein. Now Arafat's P.L.O. has returned to Lebanon with vengeance. In the bloodiest fighting since rival Christian factions clashed a year ago, Arafat is struggling to regain his former stronghold in the strife-torn country. And an array of his enemies—Israel,...

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