Monday, October 5, 1998

Secy. Albright, envoy Ross, Asst. Secy. of State Martin Indyk arrive in the Middle East to prepare for talks in Washington beginning 10/15. Albright meets with Netanyahu, then travels to Gaza to meet with Arafat. (MM 10/5; HA [Internet], WT 10/6)

Turkish pres. Demirel postpones mtg. with Egyptian pres. Mubarak that was set for today. Jordan's Crown Prince Hassan phones Demirel to urge him to find a diplomatic solution to crisis with Syria. (MM 10/5; ATL, JT, RJ, RL 10/5 in WNC 10/6; IRIB Television, JTV, Petra-JNA, SATN 10/5, IRNA, Petra-JNA, Sabah 10/6 in WNC 10/7; CSM 10/6; MEI 10/16) (see 10/4)

In a mtg. with outgoing Lebanese pres. Ilyas Hrawi in Damascus, Syrian pres. Asad taps army chief Gen. Emile Lahoud as the next Lebanese pres. Lahoud is widely considered to be an incorrupt, popular "new face," untainted by politics and unlikely to draw the military into the government. (RL, SANA 10/5 in WNC 10/6; AFP, RL al-Safir, SANA 10/5, RL, VOL 10/6 in WNC 10/7; MM, WP, WT 10/7; RL 10/7 in WNC 10/8; RL, RMC 10/8 in WNC 10/9; al-Watan al-Arabi 10/9 in WNC 10/15; Petra-JNA 10/11 in WNC 10/14; MM 10/12; MEI 10/16)

In s. Lebanon, Amal detonates 2 bombs as an IDF-SLA patrol passes, killing 1 IDF soldier, wounding 4. (AFP, RL, VOL 10/5 in WNC 10/6)