Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, who helped to broker the deal, was meant to be the guarantor of the Agreement because of his positive relations with both the Lebanese and the Palestinians. His death in September 1970 brought to power Anwar Sadat, who had little or no interest in retaining Nasser's role. Unfortunately, Lebanon's army was ultimately unable to keep a check on the PLO's operations - which had come to include cross-border attacks on Israel from South Lebanon - because of weak governmental structures and the Lebanese civil war. This led to an Israeli invasion and subsequent occupation in 1982. Gamal Abdel Nasser (Arabic: جمال عبد الناصر) ‎ (January 15, 1918 – September 28, 1970) was the second President of Egypt after Muhammad Naguib and is considered one of the most important Arab leaders in history. ... Template:Infobox President Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat (Ù…Øمد أنورالسادات in Arabic) (December 25, 1918 – October 6, 1981) was an Egyptian politician and served as the third President of Egypt from September 28, 1970 until his assassination on October 6, 1981. ... The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) had its origin in the conflicts and political compromises of Lebanons colonial period and was exacerbated by the nations changing demographic trends, Christian and Muslim inter-religious strife, and proximity to Syria and Israel. ...
The CairoAgreement and the Prelude to the 1975 Civil War
The CairoAgreement remains officially secret, but it apparently granted to the Palestinians the right to keep weapons in their camps and to attack Israel across Lebanon's border.
To end the fighting, the government negotiated the Melkart Agreement, which on the one hand obligated the PLO to respect the "independence, stability, and sovereignty" of Lebanon but on the other hard ceded to the PLO virtual autonomy, including the right to maintain its own militia forces in certain areas of Lebanon.
In February 1995, the second Cairoagreement was signed between the PLO and Israel, and in September, the Interim Agreement was signed in Washington.
Therefore, the logical conclusion was that a peace agreement with the PLO was within reach, since the main obstacle was removed from the path to peace, and the remaining disputes, which were detailed in the Declaration of Principles, would be settled around the negotiating table.
The difficulties of an agreement with the PLO were not foreign to then-prime minister Rabin and then-foreign minister Peres in the summer of 1993.
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