LebaneseForces.com: Fighting for Freedom

U.S. Bans Syria from Selecting Lebanon's Next President

The United States has given a strong hint that it would ban Syria from selecting Lebanon's president and would oppose a constitutional amendment that would allow Gen. Lahoud from seeking a new term in office. "We are watching what happens in Syria. Syria should realize that it has to stay out of Lebanon's presidential elections. It should not select Lebanon's next president," Washington's new ambassador to Beirut Jeffrey Feltman said.

There was no immediate reaction from the governments in Lebanon and Syria. Feltman outlined his stance against Syria's tutelage over Lebanon before the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate Wednesday, seeking Congressional confirmation of his appointment, An Nahar reported Thursday.

"Our objective is that Lebanon should remain free and sovereign, in peace with its neighbors and liberated from Syrian and Iranian forces," Feltman said. He asserted that the U.S. would stay neutral in the Lebanese presidential elections in fall and has no favorite contender.

"I want to emphasize anew that the United States believes the time has come for Syrian forces to depart from Lebanon and for the Syrian government to respect Lebanon's full sovereignty," Feltman added.

He said he would, if confirmed, work for the expansion of the Lebanese government's political and security presence in South Lebanon along the border with Israel.

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 29, 2004 | Permalink

LF, Kataeb Slide to Victory in FID-2, Defeating Aounists, Ahrar

Right-wing student activists waved flags and danced to the deafening beat of party anthems as the Lebanese Forces, allied with the opposition Phalange party, swept to a landslide win in student elections in the Information and Documentation faculty of the LU. The elections, held Tuesday in the second branch of the faculty in Fanar, saw the usual alliance between the LF and the Kataeb on one hand, and the Aounists and Free Liberal Party (Ahrar) on the other. The former won all six seats in the fourth and third years, and all four seats in the first year. The Aounists won 3 seats in the second year, with the final outcome a powerful 10-3 win for the LF-Kataeb coalition.

The vote came amid an administrative ban on party anthems and banner-waving inside campus, a decision which was communicated Monday to students in a stormy General Assembly session which almost developed into a physical clash between rival candidates.

Rivals competing for fourth year seats battled for the microphone to address an edgy audience on issues ranging from enhancing campus facilities to the separation of religion and university.

The debate soon spread to the ranks of the audience, with heated opinions yelled from one end of the sultry hall to the other, as the candidates resumed their battle for the microphone onstage.

In defiance of the ban on party songs, student groups from both listings blared out their anthems from car-radios outside campus, and smuggled flags and pictures of imprisoned LF leader Samir Geagea, and General Michel Aoun, the exiled ex-premier.

Ballot boxes opened at 8 am, and closed on 1 pm. Most of the results were out by 2 pm, with the LF clearly in the lead. Frenzied crowds of LF activists and supporters celebrated with more songs and a few verbal clashes with the defeated Aounists.

To seal their win, the victors finally gathered in the middle of the narrow campus grounds and recited prayers in gratitude.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 | Permalink

What you want

The response the site received from the post titled “Do you want the truth on LF.com?” was overwhelming. In just a few days we received as of now 272 emails regarding the subject. Some were just letter choices A or B while others sent in a more detailed explanation on their choice with their opinion on the issue. All the opinions were read and appreciated and I thank you for taking the time to send them in.

The Result?
I am very pleased to say that approximately 80 to 90 percent of the emails were for option B, which is for the site to continue providing the truth uncut. The majority wants to hear the truth “no matter how bitter it can be sometimes”.

You have decided the course for the site and we will follow it. We will not forget the past and we will continue remind people who we are and what we stand for.

Godspeed

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 | Permalink

LF Sweden

Friday April 30 to Sunday May 2, 2004: LF Continental Annual Seminar in Stockholm, Sweden.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, April 27, 2004 | Permalink

Mass for Dr Geagea in Cleveland

LF Cleveland would like to invite you to join us for an 11:00 AM Mass on Sunday May 2nd at Our Lady of the Cedars Akron Ohio, 507 S. Cleveland-Massillon, Fairlawn, Ohio, 44333.

The Mass will be held in support of and to pray for the release of our leader, Dr. Samir Geagea. We hope you will join us in celebrating this mass in solidarity with Dr Geagea.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 26, 2004 | Permalink

Patriarch: 'Geagea is the Cause of a Nation in Captivity'

Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir has declared Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea's imprisonment as "the cause of an entire nation in captivity." The head of the Maronite Church made the declaration in the course of a Sunday sermon delivered at a mass he held in the chapel of his Bkirki seat for Geagea, who began his 11th year in solitary confinement in the defense ministry jail in Yarze.

An assortment of politicians, legislators and trade union leaders attended the packed mass at the invitation of the LF. Geagea's wife, Strida, and his parents, Farid and Mary Geagea, were in the front row of the audience along with ex-President Amin Gemayel.

"No peace can prevail without justice," the Patriarch said. "The cause of Dr. Samir Geagea is for many of the Lebanese the cause of a nation in captivity more than the cause of a citizen in jail." Sfeir went on to say:

"With the lapse of 10 years on his presence in jail, we humbly pray to God to inspire us a collective course of action to achieve a comprehensive national reconciliation without which there is no hope for us to regain our tranquility and prosperity or for the return of those who have emigrated."

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 26, 2004 | Permalink

Geagea's wife takes up issue of release

Strida Geagea, wife of jailed Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, blamed political lack of continuity for many of the country's current woes.

"There are plenty of MPs who oppose the government, and end up giving it a confidence vote," Strida Geagea said during an address delivered Sunday in front of Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in Bkirki, where she called for her husband's release from a 10-year imprisonment.

She accused the current leaders of undermining national reconciliation in order to subvert Parliament's power to hold the government responsible.

"It would be easier for them this way to lay their hands on the country's assets," she said.

She added that the country's crises have not been resolved during the 10 years since her husband was jailed in 1994.

"While the country is still looking for itself, the Lebanese are still looking for their own future and for ways to put food on the table. However, central power has been divided at a time when some ministers have been proud to oppose their own Cabinet," Strida said.

She added that scandals were succeeding one another in the sectors of oil, cellular phones, electric power and rock and sand quarries.

She said that Lebanese were leaving their country in droves because they "refuse to live in a country with incomplete sovereignty."

In a direct reference to the thousands of young people that were lining up every day in front of foreign embassies as a prelude to leaving the country, Strida said that Lebanon without its young people was not Lebanon.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 26, 2004 | Permalink

Do you want the truth on LF.com?

Last week an article was posted on LebaneseForces.com that stated some facts regarding General Aoun. The article received many fine comments and strong support from the LF community but also created a lot of controversy and problems for the site.

The article was originally posted in retaliation to all the Anti-LF articles on some FPM sites plus to educate the sad souls whom have been misguided into believing that General Aoun will save Lebanon when in fact he will just try to save himself.

Many emails and threats were received from LF officials all over the world asking us to remove the article but we refused to.

LebaneseForces.com replied stating that we represented the voice of the people and not the officials. We replied stating that the LF people in general do not like Aoun nor his followers and that no LF in his right mind would want to unite with Aoun.. not unless Aoun asks for Dr. Samir Geagea to be freed and not until he apologizes to the families of the LF martyrs.

But does LebaneseForces.com really represent the views of the LF people?

LebaneseForces.com now has to make a decision. Either (A) we do as we are told by the LF offices all over the world and censor the truth; or, (B) we continue doing what we have been doing successfully and that is bringing you the news and truth uncensored and let you decide what to do with this information yourself.

We want to hear from YOU, so please contact us and tell us what YOU want.

click here to contact us

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, April 24, 2004 | Permalink

Bar Association Expresses Horror over Geagea's Prison Misery

The Beirut Bar Association has expressed horror over the miserable prison conditions of Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea and urged Parliament's Human Rights Committee to intervene to end his 10 years in solitary confinement at the Defense Ministry jail in Yarze. The Bar Association's plea on Friday followed a visit by its president Salim Osta to Geagea at his prison cell on Wednesday. It urged the parliamentary committee to visit Geagea at his solitary confinement cell and listen to him narrating his suffering, An Nahar reported Saturday.

The association's statement said Geagea's prison conditions violate his rights as a human being as well as international norms and treaties on the treatment of prisoners. It noted that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had never been allowed to visit Geagea in prison for the past 10 years.

The statement declared the Bar Association's support for ongoing efforts to release Geagea form prison as a precondition for a genuine national reconciliation that would lower the curtain on the lingering post-civil war animosities.

Legislator Marwan Fares, Chairman of Parliament's Human Rights Committee, said a delegation of committee members would soon visit the Defense Ministry prison to determine whether the prisoners' rights are respected.

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, April 24, 2004 | Permalink

LF Chapter Los Angeles

The Lebanese Forces in Los Angeles would like to invite you to join us for an 11:00 AM Mass on April 25, 2004 at the MARONITE CATHEDRAL, Our Lady of Mount Lebanon - St. Peter (333 South San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90048).

The Mass will be held in support of and to pray for the release of our leader, Dr. Samir Geagea.

We will be looking forward for this solidarity event with Dr. Geagea, and we hope you will join us.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 22, 2004 | Permalink

Letter to Toni Blair

The LF, London Chapter, held a demonstration in front of 10 Downing Street and handed a letter Prime Minister Tony Blair and the house of common in the occasion.
click here to download the letter as word document
click here to view a picture from their demonstration

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 22, 2004 | Permalink

Geagea wants release to effect reconciliation

The leader of the disbanded Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, hopes "he will be released so that national reconciliation across the country be established," saying that after 15 years of imprisonment, it was high time he was released.

Geagea's comments were conveyed to the press by the Beirut Bar Association President Salim Osta Wednesday. In a news conference, Osta, who visited Geagea in the Yarze prison at the Defense Ministry for a private one-hour meeting, said that "Geagea represented the legitimacy of his mission in the country and this legitimacy stemmed from the faith of believers in Lebanon and its survival."

Osta reiterated Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir's statements that "reconciliation can only be achieved with the release of Samir Geagea and all political prisoners."

Osta confirmed that Geagea was in a good health and had a series of demands, particularly transfer to another cell with more air and light. Geagea wishes to be allowed to meet his lawyers and family in private three times a week and not twice and to follow up on local and international news. He also wants the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit him by virtue of a decree issued by the Cabinet allowing the committee to visit prisoners and that two religious and philosophy experts meet him on a weekly basis for a religious and philosophical debate.

Geagea pledged not to tackle political issues nor publish any political report during his stay in prison if his demands are met, Osta said, adding that the prisoner was not allowed access to former premier Salim Hoss' recent book.

Osta said that Geagea's demands were justified. He indicated that Geagea did not discuss political issues with him since the bar association does not interfere in politics. Osta stressed the importance of preserving public freedoms, human rights and democracy which are national principles people are attached to.

Osta said that Geagea was allowed to an hour of physical exercise every day, but is transferred from one place to another blindfolded.

Taken from DailyStar

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 22, 2004 | Permalink

Dynamite Charge Explodes at Dory Chamoun's House

Assailants tossed a dynamite charge into the garden of Dory Chamoun's house in Deir al Kamar in the first incident of violence seemingly linked to the local elections set for next month, An Nahar reported on Thursday. No one was injured and no serious damage resulted from Wednesday night's blast. Chamoun heads the rightist National Liberal Party and is running for a second term as Mayor of Deir al Kamar. He called the incident 'elections fireworks.'

Chamoun also said the attack was the same police state tactics that were employed by the army's deuxieme bureau during the late president Fouad Chihab's regime in the 1960s. Like current President Lahoud, Chihab was the commanding general of the Lebanese army before his 1958 election to the top post. He used the army's intelligence apparatus to help install his protégé Charles Helou after Chihab's term expired in 1964. Ex-President Camille Chamoun, Dory's father who reigned from 1952 through 1958 and founded the NLP, forged a Christian-Muslim alliance of prominent political figures that ousted the deuxieme bureau from politics and brought down the 'Chihabist era' in 1970.

In his telephone interview with An Nahar, Dory Chamoun said the dynamite attack in Deir al Kamar was reminiscent of Chihabist tactics. "We do hope they would not persist in these methods because the results will backfire on them."

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 22, 2004 | Permalink

More Activities and an Article

Lebanese-Forces.org have published a great article written by Cedarwatch called "DR SAMIR GEAGEA - TEN YEARS ON LEST WE FORGET". click here to read it.

Lebanese-Forces.org has also published pictures from LF Symbolic Sit-in's in Front of Syrian Embassies in Rome and London.
click here to view pictures of the London sit-in
click here to view pictures of the Rome sit-in

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 | Permalink

Bar Association Chairman Inspects Geagea's Prison Conditions

Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea has requested a physical checkup by two doctors to determine whether his health condition would allow him to do certain exercises in his prison cell at the Defense Ministry Compound in Yarze, An Nahar reported on Tuesday. It said Geagea made the request through his defense attorneys to State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum, who promptly gave his approval provided the checkup is conducted at Geagea's personal expense.

The doctors Geagea wants are Fayez Abil Lama, of St. Georges Hospital, and sports specialist Ziad Harb. An Nahar quoted judicial sources as saying Geagea walks an hour a day in a prison courtyard.

In another Geagea-related development, the chairman of the Beirut Bar Association Selim Osta was given a permit by Addoum to visit the LF commander at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Osta said he would inspect Geagea's current prison conditions, An Nahar reported.

Geagea has already served 10 years in solitary confinement out of jail sentences totaling 120 years.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 | Permalink

Our Thank You's

LebaneseForces.com would like to thank the following people in regards to the Massira 2004:

Paul Keyrouz: For reserving a seat for RAA in the first car of the convoy. Ziad Tarabay: For getting RAA and Bugsy in the Batrakiye to take pictures. Danniel Spiro: For organizing this great event. Rino: For giving us an "organizers pass". RAA & Jaalouk: For taking hundreds of pictures of the event.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 19, 2004 | Permalink

Patriarch Demands Geagea's Release, Crosses Lances with Aoun

Patriarch Sfeir has declared that the release of Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea from jail "is an imperative precondition" for a national reconciliation that lowers the curtain on the lingering legacy of Lebanon's civil war. The head of the Maronite Church made the announcement to hundreds of LF activists who staged a march to Bkirki Sunday, marking the 10th anniversary of Geagea's arrest and incarceration in solitary confinement at the Defense Ministry compound in Yarze, An Nahar reported Monday.

"The release of every political prisoner in Lebanon is an imperative precondition for a national reconciliation that we have so long been demanding," Sfeir said from a balcony of the patriarchate overlooking the demonstrators, who waved Geagea portraits amidst a forest of LF flags.

Sfeir seized upon the occasion to cross lances with Gen. Aoun, who wondered in a recent Beirut TV interview whether the patriarch had given up on the demand for Syria's exit from Lebanon.

"You have been told that the patriarch may have changed his views and stance. This is untrue," Sfeir told the crowd. "Be sure that we are not from those who change their positions to adapt to fluctuating situations. Our stand is the same and you all know it."

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 19, 2004 | Permalink

Sfeir: Release all prisoners

Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said on Sunday that releasing all political prisoners was a precondition for national reconciliation.

Sfeir was addressing hundreds of supporters of jailed Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea, who headed to Bkirki on Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of his arrest. The students gathered at two points in Achrafieh and Jounieh before merging into a bigger procession that arrived in Bkirki in the late afternoon.

The procession, which was organized by the LF's student arm, raised Lebanese and LF flags and posters of Geagea and called for Geagea's release.

Sfeir addressed the younger protesters, saying: "Ten years have passed, and when I look into your faces, I notice that some of you didn't even know what the Lebanese Forces were all about, nor did you know their leader, Samir Geagea. But you persisted in your love for a leader you did not know."

Sfeir invited the young protesters "to stand united ... for Lebanon's independence, its sovereignty and free decision-making power."

Sfeir also defended himself against accusations that he was fickle.

"Trust that we are not among those who change their positions with a change in conditions," he said. "Our position is one and you know it. We want to stay in this country, which is for us and other Lebanese."

Sfeir also reminded them that Lebanon was known for its co-existence between Christians and Muslims, which everyone should preserve.

LF student coordinator Daniel Spiro read a statement on behalf of the students in which he described Geagea as a "political prisoner par excellence" and "one who believed in true national reconciliation ... and providing a life of freedom and dignity for all the people of this nation."

"He loved his country more than himself ... and he chose prison over a ministerial portfolio," said Spiro, who accused the authorities of "calling for democracy, true freedom and complete sovereignty for neighboring countries, while exercising the worst kind of oppression and suppression of those with an alternative opinion here."

"Don't they understand that there's no nation without sovereignty and no complete sovereignty for this nation without a true accord among its people," he said, adding that this could only happen "if the rulers truly had decision-making powers."

Spiro accused the authorities of miring the country with debt and corruption, pushing young people to emigrate and encouraging sectarianism, fanaticism and rancor.

Taken from the DailyStar

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 19, 2004 | Permalink

A Word from the Patriarch Sfeir

Patriarch Sfeir said something important today at the massira. He said "Somebody is saying that I have changed. I'm not the person who changes from one day to the next. I'm with you. We don't want more than others nor do we want less".

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 18, 2004 | Permalink

Ten Years in Jail

Stand up! Carry your prison and walk…
Ten springs passed by, hurting us with their roses, and not one rose could infiltrate your jail to reach your hand
Ten summers came whipping us with blue summers, and the sun's golden hair, out of which we wished one strand would reach you
Ten times the fall arrived trying to bury our hopes with yellow leaves, and we could not light your cell's small window with a Bsharreh grape, burdened with sadness
Ten times the winter came, making us ashamed, because we cannot be the storm that will rip off your cells bars, and because we keep on lamenting our fallen dreams

Stand up! Carry your prison and walk…
We are with you, like those who don’t have the power to achieve miracles
We are with you, lying under your eyes like fields of hope
We are with you, and with us the power of love, but our hands cannot reach what our eyes can see, and the hope of resurrection flies above us like a cloud that never rains or moves away
We are with you, and words cannot explain how much we miss you, after they have been used time and time again, and after these words became a burning dialogue, and language and time conspire with the prison guards against you

Stand up! Carry your prison and walk…
Yesterday, Christ rose from among the dead. We prayed a lot for your freedom. We lit ten candles; we asked ten cedar trees to help us knock on the gates of heaven
We drew your face on ten stars…
We are with you for a lifetime, Free Prisoner
We are with you… for ten lifetimes!

Al Massira, Issue 964, Monday 19th of April 2004

Posted by Dragunov on Saturday, April 17, 2004 | Permalink

Michel Aoun and Michel el Murr to Join Forces in Metn

في جديد العماد ميشال عون بحسب مصادر متابعة، تحالف وشيك بينه وبين النائب ميشال المر في المتن الشمالي، وذلك بعد سلسلة لقاءات بين "الميشالين" في باريس قبل عدة أيام. وبحسب المعلومات أيضاً، فان النائب المر يزور بكركي اليوم لإطلاع البطريرك الماروني نصر الله بطرس صفير على "التوافق" في المتن، الذي تبين انه ليس قائماً بين المر والرئيس السابق أمين الجميل، بل بين المر وعون ضد الجميل.

Click here to read the full article on Al-Mustaqbal

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, April 16, 2004 | Permalink

LF Students Visit Patriarch Sfeir

This past Monday the LF Students visited Patriarch Sfeir as part of the April acitivities. To view the pictures from this visit click here.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 15, 2004 | Permalink

LF Students Stage Sit-in for Geagea's Release

Lebanese Forces students have staged a sit-in at Beirut's Ein el-Rummaneh residential neighborhood, marking the 10th anniversary of LF commander Samir Geagea's arrest and the 29th anniversary of the eruption of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Brandishing Geagea's portraits as well as those of LF founder Bashir Gemayel, the protesters chanted demands for Geagea's release from 10 years in solitary confinement at the Defense Ministry Compound in Yarze to "turn the last leaf of the civil war."

They lit candles for the occasion and waved LF flags. Official spokesmen of the LF students branch said during Tuesday's sit-in that Geagea's release would be the genuine intro into "building the new Lebanon," An Nahar reported.

Among attendants of the sit-in was Nadim Bashir Gemayel, the only son of the LF founder who was assassinated in a bomb blast in Ashrafieh in September of 1982 just two weeks after his election for Lebanon's presidency.

Also present was Sami Gemayel, who heads the students branch of the Katayeb Reformist Movement of his father Amin Gemayel, Bashir's elder brother. Amin became Lebanon's 8th post-independence president after Bashir's death.

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 | Permalink

LF Students Sell Ka3k

On Friday 8/4/2004 the LF Students in Batroun went to the St Steve Church to sell ka3k. They were all there at 9 o'clock, 1 hour before the mass started. The LF Students sold around 200 pieces of Ka3k and best of all this time they succeeded in sending away the Syrian vendor. The last time they sold ka3k the Syrian vendor managed to sell no more then 4 pieces of ka3k, but this time he decided to leave and not even try. This was not the first time the LF students were active outside the church. They previously helped gather signatures for the petition to free Dr. Geagea and also gave out Saydet el Najet remembrance cards. We are here to stay!

click here to view the pictures

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | Permalink

An Article about Zaki Nassif

Lebanese-Forces.ca has posted an article about Zaki Nassif the composer of "Dak el khatar". The article discusses the recent defamation that has been surrounding Zaki Nassif in which some people/organizartions are making him out to be an Arabic singer while his music is actually based on syriac and bizantic origin.
click here to view the article

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 12, 2004 | Permalink

el jem3a el 3azimeh

For those of you who our spending Easter outside Lebanon, here are two pictures taken from Sassine Square in Achrafieh on "el jem3a el 3azimeh". Happy Easter. click here to view the 2 pictures

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 11, 2004 | Permalink

General Aoun: A Big Lie and Illusion

Throughout Lebanon's history no man was able to cause as much harm and suffering to the Christian community as Michel Aoun did.

He began as a simple army officer, then prostituted himself to his superiors or LF leaders to gain positions and when he did, he would turn on his allies and attack them everyway he could. Aoun managed to do in one year what the Syrians and the Palestinians failed to do in 20 years time. Aoun managed to destroy our community like no one did, to divide our people, weaken our political stance, cause the death of hundreds even thousands of people, damaged our free Christian regions heavily and all that for a stupid chair.

This is a chronology of Aoun's relations with the LF through his drive to presidency, showing how this man climbed positions through lies, deceit and how he divided the Christians and led them to a deadly war that we are still paying its price till now; while his majesty is in France making his blind followers think he is still the savior that our nation has been waiting for.

click here for part I

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 11, 2004 | Permalink

LF April Activities

Lebanon: March to Freedom on April 18 and other Events schedule.
England: April 21 Sit-in in front of the Syrian Embassy.
Italy: April 21 Sit-in in front of the Syrian Embassy.
France: Le Mercredi 21 Avril : 10 ans de l'incarcération du Commandant en Chef des Forces Libanaises Sit-In devant le ministère des Affaires Etrangères - Quai-d'Orsay, de 15h00 à 18h00.
Australia: L.F. Party, April 17th At the Grand Westella Lidcombe.
More Events will be added soon.

Taken from Lebanese-Forces.org

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, April 09, 2004 | Permalink

Army Savagely Attacks Students

Army troops made one baton charge after another and firefighters doused dozens of demonstrating students in downtown Beirut Wednesday to smother shouted demands for the release of Lebanese prisoners from Syrian jails. Several protestors from right-wing Christian groups were taken to hospital for treatment from severe club injuries and the army made several arrests, including Sami Gemayel, the younger son of ex-President Amin Gemayel. The protestors had attempted to march from Martyr's Square to the ESCWA building in the Riyad Solh Square to present a petition to the UN headquarters. Television footage showed troops dragging drenched protestors away to brief detention.

The demonstration was organized by SOLIDA in association with students from the Lebanese Forces, A7rar, and Kataeb Qa3eda. The students and the families of detainees were savagely beaten by army and police forces, and several were arrested. Some had to be taken to hospitals for treatment. The president of SOLIDA, Mr. Ghazi Aad, was beaten and his wheelchair was broken. Another example of true democracy by the Lebanese puppet regime. All they can do is attack unarmed and peaceful students. That is what cowards are good at. They forget that we can take pictures and video footage too, and we know their faces, and eventually we will have their names and addresses. There will come a day when they will be afraid to sleep in their own beds...

Posted by Dragunov on Thursday, April 08, 2004 | Permalink

Top Jurist Pleads With Jumblat to Help Free Geagea

A top Lebanese jurist has issued an appeal for the release of Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea, saying his "10-year agony in solitary confinement is enough." The plea was made by Dr. Edmond Naim, who spearheaded Geagea's defense during trials in the 1990s on charges of scheming to overthrow the regime, partition Lebanon into sectarian mini-states and assassinating political rivals, An Nahar reported on Wednesday.

Naim addressed the plea through the Markazia news agency to Druze leader Walid Jumblat, whose Progressive Socialist Party fielded the mightiest militia on the Muslim camp during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

Geagea headed the LF, the Christians' main militia, in the latter stages of the war and was the only warlord afterwards to go to prison, while almost all others joined post-war governments as cabinet ministers.

Christian leaders as well as Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, head of the Maronite church, have adamantly contended that the total of 120-year jail term passed by several courts against Geagea was politically motivated because he had refused to serve in post-war pro-Syrian governments.

Naim singled out Jumblat for the plea because the Druze chieftain had declared in a recent dialogue with students of Notre Dame University (NDU) that he would not object to Geagea's release if the Chamoun and the Karami clans announce a pardon for Geagea.

Geagea had been convicted by supreme courts in Beirut of engineering the assassination of ex-Premier Rashid Karami in 1986 and National Liberal Party leader Danny Chamoun in 1990.

"I plead with you Walid Bey to try to persuade all concerned that the agony of 10 years in solitary confinement, which Geagea has already served, is enough," Naim said.

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, April 07, 2004 | Permalink

Antelias Kaak Vendor's Secret Revealed: AK47 Beneath His Tray

A Kaak vendor in Antelias experienced firsthand the perils of riding his bicycle-cart over slippery springtime rainwater, skidding dangerously on wet asphalt and landing facedown on the adjacent pavement. The Kaak tray he was dragging behind him followed suit, crashing noisily on the busy street corner and scattering, in addition to tens of Kaaks, an AK-47 Kalashnikov rifle, to the amused surprise of passersby. The weapon, it transpires, was safely tucked away beneath the vendor's supply of daily Kaak.

It remains unclear what need he has for the heavy firearm, or how it aids him in the relatively safe, uneventful job of providing a tasty roadside meal for pedestrians.

Taken from Lebanese-Forces.org

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 05, 2004 | Permalink

For those who forgot and those who never knew

Human Rights Watch confirmed reports of torture and ill-treatment of those detained by Military Intelligence and held in the Ministry of Defense detention facilities. On April 21 1994, Fawzi al-Rasi, from the Lebanese Forces, died after suffering a heart attack while being questioned at the Ministry of Defense, according to an official statement. His family's request for an independent autopsy was rejected.

Taken from Lebanese-Forces.org

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 04, 2004 | Permalink

April Fools

For those of you who missed this years April Fools "makeover" we have archived a screen shot of how the site looked.
click here to view it

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 04, 2004 | Permalink

Jumblat Supports Geagea's Release

Walid Jumblat says he does not oppose the release of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea from jail to join in consolidating Lebanon's post-war national reconciliation, but the Karami and Chamoun families have first to forgive him. "I have no problem against Samir Geagea's freedom," Jumblat said in a question-and-answer session with the students of Notre Dame University Wednesday evening. His remarks were splashed across the front pages of several Beirut dailies that hit the newsstands Thursday morning.

"But the Karami and Chamoun families have first to declare whether they are willing to forgive," Jumblat said in an obvious reference to Geagea's alleged involvement in the separate assassinations of ex-Premier Rashid Karami and National Liberal Party leader Danny Chamoun.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 01, 2004 | Permalink