LebaneseForces.com: Fighting for Freedom

'Geagea Gets out, Jumblat Goes in'

The reconciliation of Lebanon's one-time mightiest warlords eclipsed every other political event on Lebanon Thursday, grabbing headlines of the Beirut press and fueling expectations of a powerful electoral alliance in the nation's upcoming parliamentary election.

"Jumblat from Geagea's House: to the Elections with One Vote,' roared the page-one banner-line across An Nahar's front-page along with a picture of the Druze leader shaking hands and Geagea's wife, Sitrida, to dramatize the burial of Lebanon's most bitter civil war hatchet.

"Jumblat from Geagea's House: Objective is Disbanding Syrian-Lebanese Security Apparatus," hollered As Safir's page-one headline with a picture showing Jumblat and Mrs. Geagea addressing a news conference with a picture of the jailed leader hanging above their heads.

"Jumblat from Geagea's House: Free Elections Impossible Under a Police State Regime," blazed the front-page banner-line of Ex-Premier Hariri's Al Mustaqbal daily, which said the Jumblat-Sitrida handshake had ushered in a new era in Lebanon.

Jumblat's peacemaking visit to Geagea's house in Zouk Misbeh on Wednesday had sharpened the clash between Jumblat and the reigning regime on the threshold of the elections for a new parliament.

The Druze leader had complained that authorities were waging an intimidation campaign against PSP activists. That inspired Lebanon's leading caricaturist Pierre Sadek to run a cartoon in An Nahar of Jumblat saying: "God Knows---Geagea gets out and Jumblat goes in."

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, December 30, 2004 | Permalink

Jumblat Signs Geagea's Petition

Walid Jumblat visited Samir Geagea's suburban house in Zouk Mosbeh Wednesday and signed in Sitrida Geagea's presence a parliamentary petition for the release of the Lebanese Forces commander from more than 10 years in jail at the Defense Ministry compound in Yarze.

The signature of the Druze leader whose Progressive Socialist Party fielded the mightiest militia of the Muslim camp during the 1975-1990 civil war, has put a final end to the state of belligerency with Geagea and the LF, which was the Christians' main militia in the conflict.

"My move brings an end to a dark chapter of Lebanon's history and sets the grounds for a new era of cooperation and national reconciliation," Jumblat said after adding his signature to the 'release-Geagea' petition. Mrs. Geagea said "I wish Samir was in my place."

Jumblat's move came a week after senior aide Akram Shehayyeb signed the petition in a similar visit to Mrs. Geagea on behalf of the PSP and Jumblat's 16-man bloc in parliament. The petition now has 28 signatures from members of the 128-seat parliament.

An Nahar on Wednesday quoted an authoritative Lebanese jurist as saying Premier Karami's agreement to have Geagea as a member of his 1991-1992 cabinet during former President Elias Hrawi's reign constituted a de facto renouncement of his personal status as a plaintiff in the case of his brother's 1987 assassination, for which Geagea later got a life term.

Karami has been reluctant to make such a formal renouncement personally in public, a stance that stands in the way of a special parole by presidential decree, but reportedly won't affect the parliamentary petition from a legal standpoint.

The petition, which proposes an amendment to a post-civil war general amnesty bill, is expected to be formally tabled for debate before parliament next week. The proposed amendment would also clear the legal way for Gen. Aoun to return to Lebanon from a13-year banishment in France.

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, December 29, 2004 | Permalink

Omar Karami Won't Forgive Geagea for Rashid Karami's Murder

Premier Karami is reportedly outraged by a statement in which one of his visitors at the Grand Serail said that he was willing to drop his status as a plaintiff against Samir Geagea in the assassination of the late Prime Minister Rashid Karami, Omar's elder brother, during the height of the Lebanese civil war in 1987.

The statement was distributed to the local media by Wadih Khazen, who called on the premier on Monday, quoting Karami as saying in response to a question about his stance toward the ongoing campaign for Geagea's release: "Personal wounds shrink when national reconciliation is at stake."

Ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Al Mustaqbal newspaper said it asked Karami about the authenticity of Khazen's statement. "No one speaks for me. I alone speak of what I want or what I intend to do. No one speaks for me," Karami was quoted as responding.

Karami's angry statement was seen as a sign of unwillingness to forgive Geagea or drop his personal charges that Geagea engineered the assassination of Rashid Karami by a bomb that ripped him to pieces aboard an army helicopter that was bringing him to Beirut from Tripoli. The explosive charge was planted at the back of Karami's seat in the chopper.

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 | Permalink

Lahoud Seen Putting Sticks in Wheels of Geagea's Release

President Lahoud has made it plain to the Maronite Church that he is not in the mood of issuing a special pardon for Lebanese Forces jailed commander Samir Geagea because he had pledged to the judicial system never to issue special parole for anyone during his reign, the Beirut media reported Monday.

Lahoud's stance on the snowballing campaign for Geagea's release was made during a Christmas day meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki Saturday although the Cardinal has insisted that Geagea's release and Gen. Aoun's return from exile were preconditions for wrapping up national reconciliation after the civil war, An Nahar and As Safir said.

Consequently, An Nahar argued, "any practical steps to free the LF commander are still not in the cards, at least for the remaining few months separating Lebanon from the spring elections."

Geagea's question was the main topic of discussion between the president and the patriarch in light of the parliamentary petition that has already been signed by 24 legislators and which seeks an amendment to the post-civil general amnesty law to bring about Geagea's release and Aoun's return, An Nahar said.

As far as Geagea is concerned, his freedom can be attained either by the parliamentary amendment sought by the petition or by a presidential decree granting special parole, An Nahar noted.

Despite the Patriarch's blessing to Geagea's campaign and to Aoun's return, Lahoud, a Maronite, told Lebanon's highest ranking Maronite prelate that as a matter of principle he rejects the special presidential decree because he had pledged to the judiciary on the outset of his regime in 1998 to issue no special pardon for any convict.

However, Lahoud said he would be ready to consider a decreed parole if all plaintiffs in lawsuits against Geagea during the past 10 years come forth and drop their personal rights, An Nahar said.

Lahoud and Sfeir also discussed the new electoral law the government is tailoring for the spring polls.

The president left Beirut Sunday for a New Year vacation in southern France with his family.

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, December 27, 2004 | Permalink

Geagea's Release Seen Imminent as Lahoud Drops Objection

Samir Geagea is finally on the way out of jail as President Lahoud is for the first time reportedly amenable to the release along with most of plaintiffs in the murder convictions that entailed four life terms totaling 120 years against the Lebanese Forces commander.
"I can assure all that the president is ready to support Samir Geagea's release if parliament introduces a parole bill. He will definitely sign it," said State Minister Yousef Salameh after a meeting with Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki on Christmas eve Friday, the Beirut media reported Saturday.

Lahoud has long been reportedly reluctant to give the approval nod for setting Geagea free, holding a personal grudge against the leader of the Christians' main civil war militia for the murder of army's 5th brigade commander Gen. George Kenaan in bed in the 1980s.

Kenaan had been Lahoud's classmate and closest friend while serving together in the army. Lahoud was named the army's commanding general in 1989 and his troops with massive Syrian ground and air backing from the Syrian army quelled a Aoun rebellion in late 1990. Lahoud became Lebanon's 11th post independence president in 1998.

Geagea was never charged with Kenaan's murder, which was blamed on unruly activists of the LF. But the former Christian warlord stood prolonged trials since his1994 arrest in what the head of the Maronite Church and many Christian politicians called political vendetta.

Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh said Friday he had long forgiven Geagea in connection with the LF attack that killed his father Tony Franjieh, his mother and 3-year-old sister at the summer villa in Ehden in 1978. "I have no problem about Geagea's release," the minister said.

Ex-Interior Minister Michel Murr also announced on Friday that he will be the first to sign Geagea's parole despite his alleged role in Murr's attempted assassination in Beirut in the mid 1980s. Murr's son, Elias, who preceded Franjieh as interior minister and who is President Lahoud's son in law, said he would also sign the parole.

Dory Chamoun, the National Liberal Party leader, is on record that he would not object to Geagea's release despite a court conviction that he masterminded the assassination of Dory's younger brother Dany along with his half-German wife and two small sons at their house in Baabda in 1990.

Only Premier Omar Karami is withholding public forgiveness. A Beirut court had convicted Geagea of engineering the 1987 mid-air assassination of ex-Premier Rashid Karami, Omar's elder brother.

Rashid was flying to Beirut from Tripoli aboard an army helicopter when a bomb planted at the back of his seat exploded by remote control over the Christian heartland and tore him to pieces.

Asked after a cabinet session in Beirut about his personal position on Geagea's release, Karami told reporters "no comment."

However, the Beirut media is near-certain that the premier would eventually tag along with the president. "Geagea's release is theoretically final. The scenario of his freedom is in the last-touches stage," commented the pro-Syrian Beirut daily Asharq.

Other media outfits attributed the regime's change of stance about Geagea's release to the dire need for polishing up its image before the upcoming parliamentary elections in spring.

Taken from Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, December 25, 2004 | Permalink

Jumblat's Bloc Signs 'Free Geagea' Petition,
Harirists Might Follow

Walid Jumblat has delegated legislator Akram Shihayeb to call on Sitrida Geagea Wednesday and sign the petition for the release of her jailed husband Samir Geagea on behalf of the Druze leader's 16-man bloc in Parliament, the Beirut media reported. The petition is with Mrs. Geagea.

Jumblat's move would raise to more than 30 the number of legislators who have already signed a draft bill for an amendment of the General Amnesty Law that would reverse three murder verdicts against the Lebanese Forces commander and drop charges of mutiny and public funds embezzlement against Gen. Michel Aoun.

The move signaled a sharp change in Jumblat's long-standing attitude that he would support Geagea's release only if Omar Karami, who recently became Lebanon's prime minister, drops his legal status as plaintiff in the case of Geagea's conviction of assassinating late prime minister Rashid Karami, Omar's elder brother, at them height of the Lebanese civil war.

Ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Al Mustaqbal newspaper contended that Jumblat's move would "snowball" support for the "free-Geagea" petition, but it stopped short of revealing whether Hariri would follow Jumblat's suit and have the petition signed by the whole of his 18-man Beirut bloc in Parliament.

Some Hariri supporters have signed the document on personal initiative. If Hariri directs his Beirut bloc and allied legislators elsewhere in Lebanon to sign, the petition would have around 50 signatories or even more.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, December 22, 2004 | Permalink

Christmas Donations - Thank You

The Christmas season always brings to mind feelings of joy and happiness. It is a time of sharing and celebration. But for many unfortunate LF families in Lebanon, the holiday season brings feelings of stress and sorrow.

Thank you for the following people for donating and helping out the LF families in need:

John 3:16: $150
Hi Tech Security Inc: $30
D.R.: $500
Ouweti: $100
M.N: $100
T.A $75
Boulos: $100
Yves: $30
ghassan bsaibes: $25
M.Ayoub: $500
Charbel K.: $50
V.T: $500
Tom G.: $30.00
Elie Cedar $50
Captainhook: $50
Michael A.: $1000
P.R: $100
R.R: $100
harb: $200
C.H: $10
Joe Daoud: $35
Rani: $50
VMS: $200
40-tactical: $100

Total: $4085

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, December 20, 2004 | Permalink

Samir Geagea's Old & New Cell

Based on the description by those who recently visited Samir Geagea, the following two pictures are rendered pictures of Samir Geagea's and Geryes El Khoury's new prison cell.

Samir Geagea's New Cell
Geryes El Khoury's New cell (Hakims Old Cell)

Info taken from the Lebanese-Forces.org Forum

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, December 10, 2004 | Permalink

Geagea May Seek U.N. Intervention if Lahoud Denies him Parole

Samir Geagea has said his new prison room at the ground floor of defense ministry compound in Yarze was a 'royal suite' compared to the 3-floor underground dungeon where he spent 10 years of solitary confinement without fresh air or sunshine, An Nahar reported on Saturday.
Geagea's quote came in the course of a report by parliament's Human Rights Committee about the visit of three member-legislators to the commander of the Lebanese Forces at the defense ministry prison, An Nahar said.

The new room spans 9 meters, has a decent toilet and shower and a window with a bed, table and a desk and "all the equipment and furniture a tenant would require." Geagea told his visitors, according to the report, that he was in a good physical and psychological condition at his new room, to which he was moved four months ago.

The report quoted Geagea as saying he would ask four of five friends of his in parliament to take his case to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan if President Lahoud fails to issue a special pardon for him in response to the latest plea of the London-based Amnesty International.

"Geagea receives cultural, theological and economic books and has requested a theology professor to consult with about an in-depth study…and a book he is authoring in this subject," the report said, without mentioning whether the request has been met.

As for Jirjis Khoury, who is held since the 1994 bombing of a Maronite church north of Beirut, the report spoke of appalling jail conditions that "violate the simplest rights of a human being."

His cell at the lowest underground floor of the defense ministry is only 2 and ½ meters long and 1.30 meters wide. He is allowed a 60-minute outing into the prison's courtyard a day with his right arm chained to a soldier escort, according to the report.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, December 04, 2004 | Permalink

Addoum says Geagea's re-trial not possible

Justice Minister Adnan Addoum refuted Thursday accusations by former economy minister Marwan Hamadeh that evidence on the assassination attempt that targeted him two months ago is being hidden by the judicial authorities, An Nahar reported Friday. Addoum told a press conference that a video-tape of the booby trapped car that hit Hamadeh's motorcade and the suspect "is not hidden or lost but in the hands of the judge conducting the investigation into the assassination attempt of MP Marwan Hamadeh." Addoum said the judge watched the video tape and informed him that the footage of the car and the suspect are blurred and not clear at all.

"The military investigative judge is thoroughly investigating the case and has inspected the scene of the blast and took Hamadeh's testimony at the hospital, but the latter had a different view then from now," Addoum said. He noted that Hamadeh initially accused the Israeli intelligence, the Mossad, of standing behind the attempt against him in order to cause a schism and severe divisions within the Lebanese society. "But a few days later, MP Hamadeh changed his views and testimony obviously for political reasons, and started with MP Walid Jumblat accusing the security and judicial authorities," Addoum added.

In a recent television interview, Hamadeh held the Lebanese state responsible for the attempt on his life and indirectly accused the state's security agencies of standing behind it. He also hinted that the attempt might be in response to the opposition of Jumblat's bloc in parliament to the extension of President Emile Lahoud's mandate by three months at the behest of Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon.

Addoum also stressed that the re-trial of Dr. Samir Geagea, the chief of the outlawed Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) was impossible from a legal standpoint. "There is no appeal in the final sentences especially those issued by the Judicial Council," he said. "We cannot make the people live in hope and unrealizable dreams... There is no point in hoping, only if a special amnesty for him is issued," Addoum added.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, December 04, 2004 | Permalink