●The War of Liberation

On 14 March 1989 General Michel Aoun declared the "War of Liberation" against the Syrian presence from Baabda palace, before a crowd of supporters, vowing no retreat "until the last Syrian soldier has left". The declaration was accompanied by heavy exchanges of shelling between the Lebanese army and the Syrian army and its allies over the neighbourhoods of East and West Beirut, which went on for months, killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands.