Taif agreement
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The Taif Agreement was negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia by the surviving members of Lebanon's 1972 parliament; presided and fathered by Parliament Speaker President Hussein El-Husseini. The agreement covered political reform, the ending of the war in Lebanon, the establishment of special relations between Lebanon and Syria, and a framework for the beginning of complete Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. It was signed on October 22, 1989.
The agreement restructured the political system in Lebanon by transferring power away from the Maronite Christian minority, which had been given a privileged status in Lebanon under French colonial rule. Prior to Taif, the Sunni Prime Minister was appointed by and responsible to the Maronite President. After Taif the Prime Minister was responsible to the legislature, as in a traditional parliamentary system.
The accords established a cabinet divided equally between Christians and Muslims.
Although the Taif Agreement identified the abolition of political sectarianism as a national priority, it provided no timeframe for doing so.
On March 8, 2005, Hezbollah, which maintains an armed force of 20,000 men and has had backing from Syria and Iran, staged a massive rally in Beirut drawing hundreds of thousands of people. Organizers attacked UN Resolution 1559, which mandated withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon and the disbanding of domestic militias. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, insisted "The troop withdrawal must happen according to the mechanism of the Taif Accords." [Beirut Daily Star, as quoted in March 21, 2005, "6,000 Syrian troops retreat to Lebanon-Syria border," themilitant.com, March 21, 2005.]
See also
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