The Syrian Army entered Lebanon as part of the Arab Deterrent Force charged with peacekeeping in 1976. Since that time, the Syrian Army has engaged in a number of activities and various militias (principally Amal, the Arab Red Knights, a few other Muslim groups, and the Druse (Progressive Socialist Party militia) have been aligned with the Syrian forces.

Please refer to the attached Amnesty International Report 1987 (p. 373) and Report 1988 (pp. 253-254) for allegations about the misconduct of Syrian troops in Tripoli in December 1986.

The Amal militia group has strong links to the Syrian army, and the Hezbollah (Party of God), to the Iranians. The Sunnis are represented by different militias as well, including the Mourabitoun, who were prominent in West Beirut in the early 1980s; and Tawheed, the armed wing of the Islamic Unification Movement which first came into conflict with the Syrians in 1983 and was "decisively defeated" in December 1986 after attacking Syrian-manned checkpoints. [ Henry Degenhardt, ed., Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, (London: Longman Group UK Ltd., 1988), p. 221.] Relations between the Syrian forces and Sunni militias have not always been congenial over the past decade. Shi'a or Druze militias, however, have helped the Syrian forces defeat the other Lebanese militias (e.g. in the battles against Tawheed and Mourabitoun).

The Syrian army and its Lebanese militias, currently control much of West Beirut, [ "Syrian Gunners shell Christian ports", Globe and Mail, 9 June 1989.] though the frequent outbreaks of fights between groups such as Amal and Hezbollah continues to make that control less certain. The Syrian army controlled about 65 percent of Lebanese territory in the north and east of the country in September 1988. [ "Main fighting groups and their numbers", New York Times, 5 September 1988.] Since General Michel Aoun of the Lebanese Army declared his so-called "war of liberation" to drive the Syrians out of Lebanon in March 1989, numerous press reports have indicated that the Syrians actually have about 40,000 troops fighting in Lebanon. [ E.g., Facts on File, 26 May 1989, p. 374.] Amnesty International reports that the Syrian army has detained hundreds of Lebanese citizens and Palestinians in detention centres in Lebanon, or transported them to Syria for imprisonment. [Amnesty International, Syria: Torture by the Security Forces, (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1987), attached.] Some of the people arrested were from the north (e.g. Tripoli), but were transferred to Anjar in the Bekaa valley before being sent to Damascus for detention. [ Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1988, p. 253.] Amnesty International is also concerned about the "widespread arbitrary arrests, disappearances, ...torture and deliberate killings of civilians by Syrian forces in (Syria and) Lebanon." [ Report 1988,
p. 254.] The Shi'ite militia, Amal, reportedly hands its prisoners over to the Syrian forces for detention in Syria. [Report 1988, p. 245.] The circumstances under which many of the civilians are arrested and detained, (e.g. via house searches or off the street) is not clear from the reports.

For more information on Syrian activities in Lebanon, please refer to the attached sections from the following reports:
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Amnesty International, Report 1988, Report 1987, (London: Amnesty International Publications).
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Amnesty International, Syria: Torture by the Security Forces, London: Amnesty International Publications.