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Haddad Wines Dines and Denounces Two Deported West Bank Mayors

December 8, 1980
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— Deported mayors Fahd Kawasme and Mohammed Milhim were the dinner guests Friday night of Maj. Sood Hoddod, commander of the pro-Israel Christian forces in south Lebanon. But while he offered them his hospitality, he denounced them for causing unrest in the Middle East.

Haddad, an ally of Israel, charged that they and the Palestinians in general wanted to annihilate Israel. The mayors insisted that the Palestinians were prepared to establish a state-side-by-side with Israel, if Israel withdrew to its 1967 borders.

Kawasme and Milhim, who were departed to south Lebanon within hours after the Supreme Court rejected their appeal to remain on the West Bank, were taken from the Ramle jail where they had been held in custody pending the outcome of their appeal and driven to the Lebanese border under a heavy security escort.

The mayors were headed for Nabatiye, a Lebanese village controlled by the Palestine Liberation Organization. They were unable to find transportation and were invited by Haddad to spend the night at his headquarters.

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