Gemayel slams opposition's time wasting crippling conditions

Former President Amin Gemayel on Thursday slammed the opposition for putting crippling conditions to prevent the election of Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as president.

"The opposition comes up with more crippling conditions on a daily basis" to waste time, Gemayel said during a press conference at his home in Sin el Fil.

"Whenever we were cooperative, we would see new conditions being put forward (by the opposition)," he added.

Gemayel also stressed the majority March 14 forces' full commitment to the election of Suleiman president.
"I don't know if the opposition is still holding onto his (the army chief's) election. All the conditions that it (the opposition) is putting forward may be aimed at obstructing Gen. Suleiman's election," he said.

Gemayel considered the Hizbullah-led opposition's demand to have veto power in the future government a coup against the government.

"The opposition's aim is to have veto power because it wants to impair the Lebanese system," the Phalange party leader said.

About Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun's demand to apply the 1960 law on general elections scheduled for 2009, Gemayel said: "Aoun insisted on returning to the 1960 law. We told him that this law could not be implemented these days because of demographic and administrative changes."

"We are with a fair electoral law that best fits the country," Gemayel added.

Samir Geagea

Samir Farid Geagea (Arabic: سمير فريد جعجع, also Samir Ja`ja`) born October 25, 1952 is the leader of the right wing Lebanese Forces (LF) political party. He was controversially tried and imprisoned for 11 years in solitary confinement for war crimes and later pardoned by the newly-elected Lebanese Parliament in 2005. He is currently one of the leaders of March 14 Alliance alongside Saad Hariri, Walid Jumblatt and Amine Gemayel.
Early life and education
Geagea was born in Beirut in 1952 to a Maronite family from the town of Bsharri, Northern Lebanon. His father was an adjutant in the Lebanese Army and his mother a housewife. He attended "Ecole Bénilde" elementary and secondary school in Furn el-Chebek, which was a free private school. With the aid of a scholarship from the Khalil Gibran association, he studied medicine for two years at the American University of Beirut and then continued his studies at Saint Joseph University because of the war. He was an active member of the right-wing Phalangist Party, which became the main Christian fighting force upon the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975.

War Period
Geagea steadily rose through the ranks and led several daring operations at the request of Bashir Gemayel, then commander of the Phalangist militia. In 1978, following the murder of a Phalangist party leader in the North Lebanon called Joud el Bayeh in a power struggle with former president Suleiman Frangieh, Bachir Gemayel ordered Geagea and Elie Hobeika to co-lead a unit to capture the suspects who were taking cover in Frangieh's mansion in Ehden. The convoy was ambushed on the way and Geagea was hit and admitted to Hotel Dieu hospital in Achrafieh where ironically he was doing his internship, his right hand was partially paralyzed and he never continued his formation while the military operation resulted in the murder of Tony Frangieh and his family.

Lebanese Forces
Geagea was appointed head of the Lebanese Forces' militia northern Front in the early 1980s, where he commanded around 1,500 battle-hardened soldiers, drawn mainly from his native town of Bsharri and other towns and villages in Northern Lebanon. Geagea led his men in fierce battles against the Syrian Army during the siege of Zahle in 1980-1981. In 1982-1983, Geagea commanded the Lebanese Forces against Walid Jumblat's PSP militia, the Palestinians, and the Syrians in a ruthless battle for the control of the Chouf mountains in central Lebanon.
In March 1985, Geagea and Elie Hobeika orchestrated an internal coup in order to end the leadership of Fouad Abou Nader in the Lebanese Forces. Abou Nader was considered to be too close to his uncle, president Amine Gemayel whose policies were not accepted by most LF leaders. In 1986, Geagea became head of the Lebanese Forces after overthrowing Hobeika, who was widely accused of treachery in the Lebanese Christian sector for agreeing to a Syrian-sponsored accord (the Tripartite Agreement). During the following year, Geagea meticulously rebuilt the LF into an organized, well trained and equipped military force. He established social security and public services to fill the void that was created by the war-crippled state administration. He also extracted taxes from the Christian region, offered free open-heart operations and twinned Christians cities with foreign cities in Europe and America and tried to open an airport in the Halat region because the Beirut International Airport (located in the west suburb of Beirut) was under the control of the Syrian forces which made the access for Lebanese Christians almost impossible.

The Post-War Period and Criminal Charges
On October 13, 1990, Aoun was ousted from the presidential palace in Baabda. With Aoun out of the picture, Geagea was now the only leader in the Christian heartland. Geagea was subsequently offered ministerial portfolios in the new Lebanese government but refused them under the basis that the government was under Syrian control. There was increased pressure by Syria on Geagea to accept the Syrian presence or face persecution. Prior to his arrest, he was contacted by several sympathetic politicians and warned about the forthcoming proceedings and offered safe passage out of Lebanon. Geagea refused to leave. On February 27, 1994, a bomb exploded in the Church of Sayyidet Al Najet and killed ten worshippers.[1] The LF were suspected and on March 23, 1994, the Lebanese government ordered the dissolution of the LF and Geagea's deputy Fouad Malek was taken into custody.[2] Geagea himself was arrested on April 21, 1994, on charges of ordering the church bombing, of attempting to undermine government authority by "maintaining a militia in the guise of a political party", of instigating acts of violence, and of committing assassinations during the Lebanese Civil War. He was accused of the assassinations of Former Prime Minister Rashid Karami, National Liberal Party leader Dany Chamoun and his family, and former LF member Elias Al Zayek. He was also accused of attempting to kill Minister Michel Murr. He was acquitted in the church's case but given four life sentences in the other cases. Amnesty International criticized Samir Geagea's trial and conviction, citing that it was politically motivated, unjust and done under Syrian interference. Geagea was held for 11 years in a small windowless cell in solitary in the basement of the Ministry of Defense in Yarze before Members and followers of the Cedar Revolution considered Geagea trials and sentences as being unjust and politically motivated, mainly orchestrated by the regime that ruled Lebanon during the Syrian hegemony period to oust Geagea from the political scene and dismantle the Lebanese Forces party. Ironically, many of the leaders in the March 14 coalition who orchestrated his removal from prison had been the same ones to acquiesce to his imprisonment during the years of Syrian occupation. When the Cedar Revolution won the majority in the 2005 parliamentary elections, they formulated an amnesty law to free Geagea from his disputed sentences, right after the 2005 elections. The Lebanese Parliament passed a law in the form of an amnesty bill on 18 July 2005 to free Samir Geagea. It was subsequently signed by President Emile Lahoud. [3] Geagea was released from prison on July 26, 2005 and left Lebanon for medical tests. [4] He returned to Lebanon on October 25 (his birthday), and lived in the Cedars region in northern Lebanon until December 11, 2006, after which he moved to an hotel in Bzoummar in Keserwan. On June 30, 2007, he moved to a new residence in "Me'arab", Keserwan.

The History of the lebanese forces

Early history (1976–1982)

Formation
The Lebanese Forces "LF" were informally organized in 1976 under the leadership of Camille Chamoun and Pierre Gemayel, during the Tell el Zaatar battle. It began as a simple coordination between the Kataeb,Ahrar and Guardians of cedars militias mainly Christians and part of the Lebanese Front. The main reason behind the formation of the LF was to strengthen the Christian side against the alliance of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), including the Palestinian factions of the Rejectionist Front, Muslim militias, and the Lebanese National Movement, an umbrella of leftist Militias. From the start, the LF included the Lebanese Phalanges, the National Liberal Party (or Ahrar), the Al-Tanzim, the "Christian Connections" ("al Rawabit al masihiya") and the Guardians of the Cedars led by Etienne Saqr.

Clashes with Chamoun
In July 1980, following months of intra-Christian clashes between the Tigers and the Phalangists, Bachir Gemayel launched an operation dubbed «Unification of the Rifle», in an attempt to unite all the Christian militias under his command. This operation resulted in a massacre of tens of Tigers' members and their families at the Marine beach resort in Safra, 25 km north of Beirut. Camille Chamoun's silence was interpreted as acceptance because the Tigers led by his son Dany were getting out of his control.
Siege of Zahle
On April 2, 1981, the Syrian army heavily bombarded the city of Zahle, the largest Catholic city in the Middle East. There were less than a hundred LF fighters in the city at the beginning of the battle. Zahle was sieged for three months during which it was violently shelled, but the population refused to surrender with the support of LF fighters. Meanwhile, protests were held in East Beirut urging the end of the siege. It finally ended with the withdrawal of the Syrian troops (and snipers) from around the city, and the evacuation of LF fighters to Beirut. The LF combatants were honored at their arrival to the LF headquarters in Karantina.

Israeli invasion
In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, arguing that a military intervention was necessary to root out PLO guerrillas from the southern part of the country. Israeli forces eventually moved towards Beirut and laid siege to the city, aiming to reshape the Lebanese political landscape.
After the PLO had been expelled from the country to Tunisia, in a negotiated agreement, LF leader Bachir Gemayel was elected as president of Lebanon and the youngest ever to take office. He was elected by the parliament in September; most Muslim members of parliament boycotted the vote. Nine days before he was to take office, on September 14, 1982, he was killed along with 25 others in a bomb explosion in the Kataeb headquarters in Achrafieh. The attack was carried out by a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), believed by many to have acted on instructions of the Syrian government of President Hafez al-Assad. Israel then moved to occupy the city, allowing Phalanges and LF members to enter the centrally located Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila; a massacre followed, in which the Phalanges killed between 700 and 3,500 Palestinian and refugees, causing great international uproar. Many cite the massacre as revenge for the killing of Bashir Gemayel and the Damour Massacre.

The Amine Gemayel years (1982–1988)

Battles
Mountain War
After the Israeli invasion, the IDF troops settled in the Chouf and Aley districts in Mount Lebanon. This, along with the election of Bachir Gemayel as president of the republic led to the return of the Christian refugees that fled their homes at the beginning of war. The LF returned back to the positions in the villages they were in seven years ago. Some individual vengeance acts committed against the Druze population caused anger and resentment among them. This will be one of the reasons behind the atrocities perpetrated during the Mountain War. The LF participated in the "Mountain War," but could not prevent the evacuation of the majority of the Christian population and the destruction of many Christian villages by the Druze Progressive Socialist Party "PSP" and allied Palestinian militias.
The LF also fought battles against the Palestinians, Druze PSP and Syrians east of the southern city of Sidon. The outcome was a PSP militia victory and a contigous Druze Chouf district with access to the sea.

Internal power struggles
After the death of Bachir, his brother Amine Gemayel had replaced him as President, and his cousin, Fadi Frem, as commander of the LF. The two had a frosty relationship, and in 1984, pressure from Amine led to Frem's replacement by Fuad Abou Nader, a nephew of Gemayel's.
On March 12, 1985, Samir Geagea, Elie Hobeika and Karim Pakradouni rebelled against Abou Nader's command, ostensibly to take the LF back to its original path. The relationship between Geagea and Hobeika soon broke down, however, and Hobeika began secret negotiations with the Syrians. On December 28, 1985, he signed the Tripartite Accord, against the wishes of Geagea and most of the other leading Christian figures. Claiming that the Tripartite Accord gave Syria unlimited power in Lebanon, Geagea mobilized factions inside the LF and on January 15, 1986, attacked Hobeika's headquarters in Karantina. Hobeika surrendered and fled, first to Paris and subsequently to Damascus. He then moved to Zahle with tens of his fighters where he prepared for an attack against East Beirut. On September 27, 1986, Hobeika's forces tried to take over the city of Achrafieh but the LF held them back.
This failed attempt by Hobeika was the last episode of internal struggles in East Beirut during Amine Gemayel's mandate. As a result, the LF led by Geagea were the only major force on the ground. During two years of frail peace, Geagea launched a drive to re-equip and reorganize the Lebanese Forces. He also instituted a social welfare program in areas controlled by the LF. The LF also cut its relations with Israel and emphasized relations with the Arab states, mainly Saudi Arabia, Irak, Jordan, Egypt and the PLO.
On August 18, 1988,the LF detained several members of the Lebanese Parliament, thereby preventing the return to the Presidency of Suleiman Franjieh who was pro-Syrian.

The Aoun years (1988–1990)
Two rival governments contended for recognition following Amine Gemayel's departure from the Presidency in September 1988. The LF initially supported the military government led by Gen. Michel Aoun, the commander of the Lebanese Army. However, clashes erupted between the LF and the Lebanese Army under the control of Michel Aoun on February 14, 1989, since the LF controlled many ports illegally and since Aoun wanted to be the only leader in East Beirut. These clashes were stopped, and after a meeting in Bkerké, the LF handed the national ports which it controlled to Aoun's government under pressure from the Lebanese National army.
Geagea initially supported Aoun's "Liberation War" against the Syrian army, but then agreed to the Taif Agreement "Taif," which was signed by the Lebanese deputies on 24 October 1989, which demanded an immediate ceasefire. Aoun's main objection to "Taif" was its vagueness as to Syrian withdrawal from the country. He rejected it vowing that he "would not sign over the country." Syrian occupation would last another 15 years. Fierce fighting in East Beirut broke out between the army and the LF, called the "Elimination War" by on January 30, 1990.

The Second Republic (1990–2005)
After Aoun surrendered on 13 October 1990 to the rival Syrian-backed President, Elias Hrawi, Geagea was offered ministerial posts in the new government. He refused several times, saying that he was opposed to Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs, and his relationship with the new government deteriorated On March 23, 1994, the Lebanese government ordered the dissolution of the LF. [2] On April 21, 1994, Geagea was arrested on charges of setting a bomb in the church in Zouk, of instigating acts of violence, and of committing assassinations during the Lebanese Civil War. Although he was acquitted of the first charge, Geagea was subsequently arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment on several different counts, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Rashid Karami in 1987. He was incarcerated in solitary confinement, with his access to the outside world severely restricted. Amnesty International criticized the conduct of the trials and demanded Geagea's release, and Geagea's supporters argued that the Syrian-controlled Lebanese government had used the alleged crimes as a pretext for jailing Geagea and banning an anti-Syrian party.

After the Cedar Revolution
Samir Geagea is the current Lebanese Forces leader.
The LF was an active participant in the Cedar Revolution of 2005, when popular protests and international pressure following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri combined to force Syria out of Lebanon. In the subsequent parliamentary election held in May and June, the LF formed part of the Rafik Hariri Martyr List (LF, Future Movement, Popular Socialist Party, the reformed Phalanges, and other political parties), tactically allied with the powerful (Hizbollah and Amal) against General Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and his pro-Syrian allies and subsequently gained a majority in the Lebanese Parliament based on a controversial election law which was written by the Syrians to control Lebanon. The tactical alliance with Hizbollah and Amal would soon end and these majority parties and movements would later form the March 14 Alliance, opposed to the oppositional March 8 Coalition backed by Hizbullah and Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement lead by General Aoun.
Geagea was freed on 18 July 2005.

Present political representation
The LF currently holds 5 out of the 127 seats (4%) in the Lebanese Parliament, and are represented in the Siniora government, formed in July 2005, by the minister of Tourism Joseph Sarkis. Lebanese Forces is a growing political party in Lebanon, with an exceptionable growing amount of support on university campuses.

Who we are

Lebanese Forces (LF) (Arabic: القوات اللبنانية al-quwat al-lubnāniyya) are a right wing Lebanese political party and a former militia,[1] which fought on the Christian side during the civil war that ravaged Lebanon from 1975 to 1990. After the civil war ended, the movement reinvented itself as a political party. In 1994, while Lebanon was under Syrian occupation the party was banned, and the activities of its militants repressed by the Lebanese services in Lebanon. The LF returned as legal party after the Cedar Revolution in early 2005 resulted in a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Its leader since 1986 is Samir Geagea.