Bush Ends Tour With Beirut Visit
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BEIRUT — Former President Bush arrived Tuesday for a visit that raised Lebanese hopes of Washington lifting a nine-year ban on travel here.
Bush traveled to Lebanon from Damascus, where he conferred with Syrian President Hafez Assad. Lebanon and Syria were the last scheduled stops on his Middle East tour, which also took him to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.
It was Bush’s first visit to Lebanon since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war, and his second in 13 years. He first came here as vice president in October 1983 to boost the morale of U.S. Marine peacekeepers after a suicide bomber blew up their base, killing 241 Americans.
The attacks, claimed by pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim extremists, brought the collapse of the 17-month peace mission in Lebanon.
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