A daily pick of news events that happened on this day in history from the pages of Gulf News dated February 19, 1980. Click here to view a Gulf News page on February 19, 1980 (pdf)

Strike-hit Iran army faces massive purge

The Iranian armed forces are facing a massive purge and reorganisation following the military men's threat that they will go on a strike again if their demands are not met within a week.

The simmering crisis took a new turn when nearly 5,000 army men demonstrated outside the Tehran hospital, where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is recovering from a heart ailment, demanding Islamic councils in the armed forces and an upsurge of senior officers.

Egyptians greet new embassy with gloom

Israel opened its first embassy here but gloomy-faced Egyptians just silently watched or totally ignored the low-key flag ceremony. Uniformed policemen and armed plainclothes security men kept passersby from the embassy gilding though traffic in the streets continued normally.

Zayed promises priority to students' pleas

President His Highness Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan met Emirates university students at Al Maqam palace. The students talked to the President about various issues, prominent of which was the implementation of the joint memorandum of the Federal National Council and the Cabinet.

Shaikh Zayed confirmed that the basic demands of the citizens including promoting the standard of living and reducing petrol prices are having priority in his concern and that the national interest surpasses every other consideration. He added "we will continue our drive with faith and might until the high objectives of the state and the citizens are realised."

Syria raids terrorist ring

Government security forces attacked a house in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and killed eight members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood organisation, security sources said.

The security forces also found in the house a huge cache of weaponry that included automatic rifles, grenades, hand guns and explosives, they said. The security sources described the Brotherhood members as "terrorists" who had been involved in "a number of murders and assassinations" in Aleppo and its suburbs.

Soviets no threat to Gulf says Kuwait

Kuwait's Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah said the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan posed no threat to Arab oil and rejected the presence of American troops in the Gulf because "we do not need anyone saving us."

Shaikh Sabah expressed his disapproval of US President Jimmy Carter's plan for an American security umbrella over the Gulf, "The oil is going smoothly and nicely, why do they make all this nonsense in our area” Sabah said.

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