camps to the Syrian army. According to The New York Times (March 10, 1992, citing figures from the Lebanese police), 3,781 were killed in the fighting. War of Brothers On February 17, 1988, Col William R. Higgins, American Chief of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) observer group in Lebanon, was abducted from his UN vehicle between Tyre and Nakoura after a meeting with Abd al-Majid Saleh, Amal's political leader in southern Lebanon. It soon became "clear that Sheikh al-Musawi, the commander to Hezbollah's Islamic Resistance, had been personally responsible for the abduction of Lt. Col Higgins in close cooperation with both Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid, the local commander of Hizballah's military wing, and Mustafa al-Dirani, the former head of Amal's security service." This is seen as a direct challenge to Amal by Hezbollah, and Amal responds by launching an offensive against Hezbollah in the south where it "scores decisive military victories ... leading to the expulsion of a number of Hizballah clergy to the Beqqa". In Beirut's southern suburbs however, where fighting also raged, Hizballah was much more successful. "[E]lements within Hizballah and the Iranian Pasdaran established a joint command to assassinate high-ranking Amal officials and carry out operations against Amal checkpoints and centers." By May, Amal had suffered major losses, its members were defecting to Hezbollah, and by June, Syria had to intervene militarily to rescue Amal from defeat. In January 1989, a truce in the "ferocious" fighting between Hizballah and Amal was arranged by Syrian and Iranian intervention. "Under this agreement, Amal's authority over the security of southern Lebanon [is] recognized while Hizballah [is] permitted to maintain only a nonmilitary presence through political, cultural, and informational programmes." Amal after the war Amal was a strong supporter of Syria after 1990 and endorsed Syria's military presence in Lebanon. After Rafik Hariri's assassination in 2005, Amal opposed the Syrian withdrawal and did not take part in the Cedar Revolution. Since 1992, the party has been represented in the Lebanese parliament and the government. Amal's enemies often criticize it for corruption among its semi-major leaders. Nabih Berri was elected speaker of parliament in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2016. Following the 2018 Lebanese general election, Amal has had 17 representatives in the 128-seat Lebanese parliament. This was an increase from the 13 representatives at the 2009 election, 14 at the 2005 election, 10 at the 2000 election, 8