Lebanese Arab Army

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LEBANESE ARAB ARMY

Muslim military group in Lebanon.

The Lebanese Arab Army was formed in 1975 by a group of Muslim officers and soldiers who defected from the army of Lebanon and accused its Maronite leadership of collaboration with Maronite right-wing militias. Supported by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; the al-Fatah movement in particular), it succeeded in overrunning military barracks controlled by the army of Lebanon. The Lebanese Arab Army's role came to an end in the spring and early summer of 1976, when its forces (along with PLO forces and forces loyal to the Lebanese National Movement) clashed with the army of Syria, which was supporting the coalition of Maronite-oriented right-wing militias.

see also fatah, al-; palestine liberation organization (plo).

as'ad abukhalil