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CNN reopens Beirut bureau 12 years after kidnapping
May 27, 1997
Web posted at: 1:01 p.m. EDT (1701 GMT)BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- CNN reopened its Beirut office Tuesday after a 12-year absence forced by Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war and a spate of kidnappings of Westerners, including the network's bureau chief in Lebanon
Cable News Network closed its bureau in 1985 after the kidnapping of bureau chief Jerry Levin. who was released after 100 days. The reopened bureau is to be staffed by non-Americans and headed by British journalist Brent Sadler, 44, who often reported from Lebanon during the war and suffered a gunshot wound in the arm in 1983.
The United States currently bans its citizens from going to Lebanon. The ban was imposed in 1985 after Islamic militants hijacked a TWA airliner and killed a U.S. passenger. Other news organizations also use non-American employees in Lebanon.
Lebanon is seeking to have the U.S. ban lifted, and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri called CNN's decision "evidence of confidence in Lebanon." Beirut earned the reputation as the world's most dangerous city for international citizens in the late 1980s because of kidnappings by Islamic fundamentalists.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Lebanon warned about plot to kill pope - May 13, 1997
- Lebanon weighs U.S. cease-fire plan - April 16, 1996
- U.N. hears Lebanese complaints about Israeli attacks - April 16, 1996
- No end in sight for fighting along Lebanon-Israel border - April 14, 1996
- Israeli attack hits power station in Beirut - April 14, 1996
Related Sites
- ArabNet -- Lebanon, Contents
- Hezbollah (Party of God)
- CIA World Factbook
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