Covenant Love & Death in Beiru

Newman was an experienced journalist in her 30s when she arrived in Beirut in 1980 to produce a TV documentary on the political maneuvering there. Her meeting with Bashir Gemayel, head of the Christian militia fighting the PLO and Syrians in Lebanon, was the start of a love affair, intense although doomed. Gemayel was tied to his wife and family; Newman, a divorcee, had a daughter waiting for her at home in Washington, D.C. Convinced that the 32-year-old leader could accomplish his goals of restoring peace and unity to his country, the author rejoiced when Gemayel was elected president in 1982, but he was assassinated shortly afterward. Impelled to investigate the crime, Newman risked her life, returning to Beirut and amassing evidence in support of the belief that the president's threat to entrenched power-sharers led to his murder. This is an important book about the intriguers that create bloody strife in the Mid-East, by an observant reporter. (Apr.)