LebaneseForces.com: Fighting for Freedom

Campaign for Geagea's Pre-Elections Release

The opposition has decided to insist on Speaker Berri Thursday to schedule a speedy session of parliament to debate and vote on a bill designed to set free jailed Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea, An Nahar reported.

The demand will be made during a meeting of Justice and Administration Committees of parliament that convened to debate which law should govern the 4-stage upcoming legislative elections from May 29 through June 19.

The decision was taken in a meeting Wednesday night by opposition legislators of Qornet Shahwan and the Hariri and Jumblat blocs. The meeting was held at legislator Marwan Hamadeh's house un Beirut.

The conferees were in telephone touch with Sitrida Geagea, who gave them her clearance to make the move in parliament Thursday to free her husband, who already served 11 years in jail before the May 29 elections.

Berri refused to put Geagea's parole draft bill to vote during Wednesday's parliamentary debate over the policy statement of Premier Mikati's government. Media reports on Thursday attributed Berri's negative stance to a statement by slain ex-premier Rashid Karami's family refusing to absolve Geagea from guilt in Karami's assassination aboard an army helicopter in 1987.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 28, 2005 | Permalink

Lebanese Forces Toronto, Canada

The LF in Toronto cordially invites you to attend a dinner "In Solidarity with Dr. Samir Geagea & Celebrating the End of the Syrian Occupation of Lebanon" at the Firehouse Grill Restaurant. Saturday April 30th, 2005 at 7:00 pm 5503 Eglinton Avenue West.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 28, 2005 | Permalink

Berri Withholds Vote on Geagea's Parole

Parliament on Wednesday extended its mandate, which expires May 31, to mid June this year on the grounds that the first stage of the elections will be held on May 29 and the other stages would take some 5 weeks to complete.

Speaker Berri abstained from tabling for a final vote a proposed amendment by the opposition to the 1991 amnesty law in order to win the release of Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea from jail before the elections.

When asked to put the proposed amendment to a vote, Speaker Berri said "its not the proper time, we are in a haste." Berri's stance lift Geagea's release a matter for the new parliament to resolve.

The Lebanese Forces had staged a week long campaign of demonstrations and sits-in to force a Geagea parole, marking the beginning of his eleventh year in prison at the Defense Ministry compound in Yarze.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | Permalink

Baath Party Demand Geagea's Release

The leader of Syria's Baath Party branch in Lebanon, Assem Kansou, stunned parliament in Beirut Wednesday by demanding Samir Geagea's release from jail. Asserting that Syria had no hand in Geagea's imprisonment, Kansou said the Lebanese Forces commander should be released to safeguard Lebanon's civil peace.

There was loud laughter from many legislators when Kansou made his remarks from parliament's podium during the debate of Premier Mikati's policy statement upon which he is seeking a vote of confidence to install his newly formed government in power.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | Permalink

Troops Assault Families of Lebanese Prisoners in Syria

Army troops and riot police made repeated baton charges to stop irate families and relatives of Lebanese prisoners in Syria from storming into the Lebanese parliament as it opened a vote of confidence debate in Lebanon's new government Tuesday.

Screaming protestors were clubbed down to the ground at downtown Beirut's Star Square of the parliament building as the clash flared into a fist fight and troops used rifle butts to subdue the demonstrators.

Waving national flags and banners of Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces, the demonstrators marched onto Star Square from the premises of the U.N. House, where they have been staging a sit-in since Sunday.

Nadim Gemayel, son of the slain LF founder President-Elect Bashir Gemayel, who led the march, was roughed up during the 20-minute confrontation and was seen on TV screens shielding his face from club-wielding riot police.

The clash outside touched off an opposition uproar inside the parliament and Speaker Berri consequently sent word to the parliament's guards to be lenient with the protestors.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | Permalink

Sitrida: Hakim will be Out of Jail Shortly

Sitrida Geagea has pledged the Lebanese Forces to defend the unity of Lebanon's opposition factions, to safeguard the national reconciliation, to uphold the Taif Accord and to main distinguished relations with Syria after evacuating Lebanon, vowing not to "replace one tutelage by another."

Mrs. Geagea outlined the LF political stance in a speech she gave after a mass in the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki with dozens of Muslim and Christian opposition leaders among the audience. The mass marked the end of a weeklong LF drive for her husband Samir Geagea's release on the 11th anniversary of his arrest in 1994.

She pledged the LF, which once was the mightiest Christian militia during the civil war, to spare no effort to tear down sectarian barriers and build the bridges of dialogue for a sound national reconciliation that puts a final end for the aftershocks of the war.

"Lebanon is beginning to emerge from its big prison," Mrs. Geagea said in an obvious reference to Syria's evacuation. "The Hakim will shortly emerge from his jail."

click here to listen to her speech from yesterday

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 25, 2005 | Permalink

Dory Chamoun Absolves Geagea from Guilt in Danny's Assassination

National Liberal Party leader Dory Chamoun has publicly exonerated Samir Geagea from murdering his brother Danny in 1990 and said "I believe the Syrian brothers played the main role in the assassination," An Nahar reported on Monday.

"My brother Danny and his family were murdered after the Syrians entered the eastern region," Dory Chamoun said in a rally held Sunday in Jezzine, the biggest Christian town in south Lebanon. The 'eastern region' means Lebanon's Christian heartland.

"The evidence upon which Samir Geagea was convicted was insufficient and impractical," said Chamoun in his first public accusation that the Syrians had engineering Danny Chamoun's murder along with his half-German wife Ingrid and their two small sons at their house in Baabda.

"I demand a new investigation to ascertain who the real assassins were," Dory said at a time the Lebanese Forces are mounting a week-long campaign of demonstrations and sits-in for the unconditional release of the LF commander from 11 years in prison at the defense ministry compound in Yarze.

A Beirut supreme court had convicted Geagea of having masterminded Danny's killing and gave him a death sentence that was commuted to life imprisonment.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 25, 2005 | Permalink

LF commemorates Geagea’s years in jail

Supporters of the disbanded Lebanese Forces took to the streets Thursday to commemorate 11 years since the imprisonment of the militia’s leader Samir Geagea. The streets of the northern town of Bsharri were decorated with candles, and flags bearing the Lebanese Forces insignia as residents toured the town carrying pictures of Geagea and chanting slogans calling for freedom, sovereignty and independence.

The citizens of Hasroun held a Mass at the northern town’s As-Saydeh Church and organized a gathering in the town’s main street. The representative of the Lebanese Forces in Batroun, Antoine Zahra, held a meeting attended by Batroun’s mayor and members of the town’s municipal council, in which he said: “The Lebanese Forces movement has joined other political and national forces in the march toward independence.” Zahra further said that Geagea had “paid the price of the political revolt against the Taif Accord.”

Meanwhile, the administration and justice follow-up committee, entrusted with drafting a new amnesty law, held a meeting on Thursday to examine a proposal submitted by MPs Fares Soueid,Akram Shehayeb, George Kassardji, Alaeddine Tirro, Bassem Sabaa and Neamatallah Abi Nasr, who are seeking to amend the 1991 law and secure the release of Geagea. The committee further studied the proposal submitted by Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and MPs Mosbah Ahdab, Beshara Merhej, Abdel-Rahim Mrad, Jamal Ismail and Saleh Kheir pertaining to the Dinnieh and Majdal Anjar detainees.

Kesrouan MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr said the proposal to amend the Amnesty Law would be passed by Parliament, and that Geagea would be released soon. The Nasr’s statement was made during a conference held by the Lebanese Youth Movement at the Metropolitan Hotel on Thursday. In other developments, a committee representing the families of detainees held in the Dinnieh and Majdal Anjar prisons organized a conference Thursday under the patronage of Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani.

The Grand Mufti stressed in his speech the need to adhere to the principles of justice and equality, saying: “We should hold on to the principles of justice and equality and the government should adopt the pressing draft law for general amnesty pertaining to the cases referred to the Judicial Council and to the military court.” In a meeting held on Wednesday,the municipality of Majdal Anjar and the families of the detainees stepped up pressure on the government to release the detainees. The residents of Majdal Anjar headed on Thursday to Dar al-Fatwa in Beirut to sign a petition demanding their immediate release.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 24, 2005 | Permalink

'Free Geagea' Massive Demonstration at Bkirki, Harissa

Tens of thousands of Lebanese Forces activists have staged a massive demonstration at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki and the neighboring Papal Nuncio's residence in Harissa, demanding a prompt and unconditional release of LF commander Samir Geagea from 11 years in prison. Waving a forest of LF green-and-white cedar flags and portraits of Geagea and slain President-elect Bashir Gemayel, the LF founder, the protestors kept chanting a single slogan of "Release Geagea" the 4-hour demonstration on Saturday, An Nahar reported on Sunday.

"Since national reconciliation cannot be attained without Samir Geagea, it is then imperative to free him at once and without conditions," said LF Student Department Chief Daniel Spiro in an oration he delivered from a Bkirki balcony.

Many women carrying children with LF flags wrapped around their heads poured into Bkirki's sprawling courtyard in bus convoys from the four corners of Lebanon's Christian heartland, crossing the Dog River and Death River .

An Nahar said some of the demonstrators wearing military fatigues were involved in minor skirmishes with riot police, who demanded that military-like uniforms should be taken off. The demonstrators complied at orders from LF superiors, An Nahar said. There were no incidents of violence.

The LF demonstrators were joined by students from many other factions that banded in a united anti-Syria opposition front after the assassination of ex-premier Hariri, also brandishing posters demanding Geagea's release before the May elections.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 24, 2005 | Permalink

Families Ask U.N. to Get Lebanese Prisoners from Syria, Alive or Dead

The families and relatives of Lebanese prisoners in Syria have staged a sit-in at the U.N. House premises in downtown Beirut, demanding the establishment of an international committee to investigate the fate of their losing-missing loved ones, An Nahar reported Sunday.

Saying they have no faith in Lebanese or Syrian or joint committees to handle the question of the missing Lebanese, the protestors said a U.N. fact-finding commission should be dispatched to Lebanon and Syria to determine their fate once and for all.

"If they still are in prison, we want them back from Syria. If they are dead from physical torture or prolonged imprisonment or they were tried and executed, we want their remains," said one mother. "This is a human right issue the U.N. must take up like it is handling Hariri's assassination."

Many opposition leaders called on the protestors to express solidarity, including An Nahar's General-Manager Gebran Tueni and Ghassan Mokhaiber, of parliament's human rights committee.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 24, 2005 | Permalink

Army Attacks LF Convoy

Lebanese Forces members were ambushed and attacked yesterday on their way to the martyrs square. An LF convoy was stopped at an army checkpoint by 7 soldiers and asked to remove all the LF flags. When the students refused the soldiers isolated the first few cars of the convoy from the rest, then suddenly, out of no where over 100 soldiers appeared and started attacking the LF students. Many were injured including a member of the Wanabka.net website who was left with a broken shoulder and jaw. More information available on Wanabka.net including pictures and videos. Click here.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, April 22, 2005 | Permalink

4015 'Free Geagea' Balloons Over Beirut

Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces activists have staged widespread protests in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon, demanding his release from 11 years in prison, releasing 4015 red and white balloons into the air from slain ex-Premier Hariri's graveside to mark Geagea's 4015th day in jail. Each balloon had a printed slogan of "Free Samir Geagea." They dotted the sky over Beirut's downtown Martyrs Square minutes after a floral wreath was placed on Hariri's grave on behalf of Samir and Sitrida Geagea, An Nahar reported Friday.

Crowds brandished LF Flags and chanted slogans that Geagea's release was an imperative precondition for a genuine national reconciliation to dispel the lingering fallout of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The crowd cheered and clapped as LF youths tore apart an effigy of a prison cell with a poster hanging overhead, reading "the dawn of freedom is coming."

In Bisharri at north Lebanon's cedar mountains, Geagea's hometown and birthplace of Lebanon's renowned half-American poet Gebran Khalil Gebran, LF activists lit 90,000 candles around the town as motorcades roamed the streets with "free Geagea" slogans blared from loudspeakers.4015 'Free Geagea' Balloons Over Beirut, 90,000 Candles in Bisharri
Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces activists have staged widespread protests in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon, demanding his release from 11 years in prison, releasing 4015 red and white balloons into the air from slain ex-Premier Hariri's graveside to mark Geagea's 4015th day in jail.
Each balloon had a printed slogan of "Free Samir Geagea." They dotted the sky over Beirut's downtown Martyrs Square minutes after a floral wreath was placed on Hariri's grave on behalf of Samir and Sitrida Geagea, An Nahar reported Friday.

Crowds brandished LF Flags and chanted slogans that Geagea's release was an imperative precondition for a genuine national reconciliation to dispel the lingering fallout of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The crowd cheered and clapped as LF youths tore apart an effigy of a prison cell with a poster hanging overhead, reading "the dawn of freedom is coming."

In Bisharri at north Lebanon's cedar mountains, Geagea's hometown and birthplace of Lebanon's renowned half-American poet Gebran Khalil Gebran, LF activists lit 90,000 candles around the town as motorcades roamed the streets with "free Geagea" slogans blared from loudspeakers.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, April 22, 2005 | Permalink

Aoun Attacks LF Cross

In a recent interview on NTV, Aoun criticized the Lebanese Forces cross saying that it has the shape of a dagger. Aoun also stated the the Lebanese Forces cross in no way does it resemble the Christian cross because it is has a diagonal cut and actually reminds him of the Nazi cross.

Aoun has recently been trying to sell himself among the non-Christians of Lebanon and what better way to do it than attacking the Christians. In the same interview Aoun also accused the LF of attacking him first and that he didn't start the Ilgha War.

For further discussion on how Aoun hasn't and will never change click here.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 18, 2005 | Permalink

Parliament to take up Geagea bill

The draft bill proposing the amendment of the General Amnesty Law for the release of the jailed leader of the disbanded Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, will be taken up by Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee on Wednesday.

The committee's chairman, Akkar MP Mikhail Daher, told reporters Saturday that he had scheduled a session to discuss an urgent draft bill signed by six legislators to issue a parole for Geagea.

Geagea's bill was set in motion by his wife Setrida during a meeting she held with Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday.

The committee will also debate a similar draft bill during the session for the release of the Dinnieh and Majdal Anjar prisoners. That bill was submitted to Parliament by a number of MPs, including newly appointed Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati.

Several MPs have denounced the unjustified detention of some people in the 2000 Dinnieh clashes, which led to the death and injury of army officers and soldiers, and in the Majdal Anjar police raid when some people were rounded up after they were suspected of planning the bombing of the Italian Embassy.

Daher said Parliament has the power to debate and vote on the two bills even if no new government has been installed in power, asserting that the committee would table the draft bills before Parliament's first plenary session called to debate and vote on a new electoral law.

Source: The Daily Star

Posted by digitalDNA on Monday, April 18, 2005 | Permalink

Geagea's 'Freedom Bill' Begins Final Journey in Parliament

Samir Geagea's freedom bill has been taken up by Parliament's Administration and Justice Committee on Wednesday, Committee chairman Mekhael Daher said in a interview published by An Nahar on Sunday. "I have scheduled a committee session for Wednesday to debate an urgent draft bill signed by six legislators to issue a parole for Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea," Daher said.

The Committee, will also debate another parole bill submitted to parliament for the release of the Dinniyeh and Majdal Anjar prisoners, which was lodged with parliament by a number of legislators, including Premier-Designate Najib Mikati, Daher said.

He said parliament has the power to debate and vote on the two bills even if no new government has been installed in power, asserting that the Committee would table the draft bills before parliaments' first plenary session called to debate and vote a new electoral law for Lebanon.

Geagea's bill was set in motion by his wife, Sitrida, in a meeting she held with parliament speaker on Thursday.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 17, 2005 | Permalink

Sitrida Sets 'Free Samir Geagea' Bill in Motion in Parliament

Sitrida Geagea has set in legislative motion the drive to free her husband, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, from 11 years in jail at the defense ministry compound in Yarze. Mrs. Geagea held a 35-minute conference with Speaker Berri at his chambers in parliament Thursday and came out to tell reporters "I came to ask Speaker Berri to sponsor the draft bill that was registered with Parliament by lawmakers Akram Shehayeb and Nihmatallah Abi Nasr on Tuesday."

The draft bill, signed by six parliament members, proposes an amendment of the 1991 post-civil war General Amnesty Law in order to have Geagea released once parliament adopts the bill.

"After 11 years in prison," Mrs. Geagea said, "we believe it is imperative to release him soonest possible, especially he was a maker of the Taif Accord like Speaker Berri, martyred ex-premier Rafik Hariri and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir."

The 1989 Taif Accord brought the Lebanese civil war to an end. "The Taif spirit is based on national consensus for a comprehensive national unity reconciliation to close the civil war chapter once and for all. These aspirations cannot be attained until Al Hakim is out of prison," Mrs. Geagea said.

She later convened a meeting of senior opposition leaders at her Zouk Mosbeh residence to asses the chances of her husband's release. Present were Ex-President Amin Gemayel, presidential aspirant Nassib Lahoud, legislator Naila Mouawad and National Liberal Party leader Dory Chamoun.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, April 15, 2005 | Permalink

Anti-Syria Rioters Ransack Baathist Office in Zahleh, Katayeb's Rescued

Jubilant crowds have stormed and ransacked the Baath Party offices in Zahleh and attempted to do the same with Karim Pakradouni's Katayeb branch after Syria pulled out its intelligence apparatus from the largest Catholic-populated city in the Middle East, An Nahar reported Thursday. The two-pronged attack came amid festive celebrations in the streets of Zahleh staged by activists of Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces and ex-President Amin Gemayel's Katayeb Corrective Movement.

The furniture of the Baath Party office was overturned and pictures of Presidents Lahoud and Assad were torn off the walls before army troops arrived at the scene to push the attackers out of the center.

Troops, however, managed to stop LF and Gemayel's followers from breaking into the Katayeb office, where Pakradouni's pictures were torn off the entrance and replaced by a Geagea portrait.

The army command said seven rioters were arrested and turned over to judicial authorities.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 14, 2005 | Permalink

Sitrida Sets Samir Geagea's Parole in Motion at Parliament Thursday

Sitrida Geagea has scheduled a meeting with Speaker Berri for Thursday to push a draft bill for an amendment of the 1991 post-civil war amnesty law to release Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea, her husband, from nearly 11 years in prison, hopefully before the May elections. By the time the meeting is held the proposed draft bill signed by opposition legislators would have been formally registered with the Parliament's secretariat by Deputies Nimatallah Abi Nasr and Akram Shehayyeb, An Nahar reported on Tuesday.

The two decisions, the registration and Mrs. Geagea's meeting with Berri, were taken in a meeting of the 6 signatories of the draft bill held at the Geagea house in suburban Zouk Mosbeh Monday at Mrs. Geagea's invitation, An Nahar said.

Legislator Bassem al Sabaa, a political disciple of slain ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and member of Walid Jumblat's bloc in Parliament, read out the decisions to reporters after the Zouk Mosbeh meeting.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | Permalink

Relatives of Missing Lebanese in Syria Start Hunger Strike

Relatives of about 280 Lebanese missing or imprisoned in Syria have begun an open-ended hunger strike near the U.N. House in Beirut, seeking international intervention to have their loved ones back alive or dead. They handed a memorandum to U.N. officials in which they "called on the United Nations to take action and admit that the Syrian army pullout from Lebanon would not have implemented U.N. Security Council 1559 completely as long as the issue of the detainees is not settled."

Ghazi Aad, head of the non-governmental organization called 'Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (SOLIDE),' told AFP that the relatives will take turns every 24-hours to keep about 30 people staging the non-stop hunger strike.

"We are seeking three things: the release of all Lebanese detainees, the return of the remains of detainees who died in prison due to torture or extra-judicial executions and information about the fate of Lebanese kidnapped by Syrian forces in Lebanon," he said.

"We also want the International Committee of the Red Cross to be granted access to Syrian detention centers to check on Lebanese citizens," he said.

Aad said about 280 Lebanese nationals were reportedly missing or imprisoned in Syria, including a handful of women and some who were underage at the time of their purported abduction.

Syria released 54 Lebanese prisoners from its jails last December 24, contending they were the last batch of Lebanese prisoners. But Solide and relatives contend there are 280 still unaccounted for.(AFP-Naharnet)

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | Permalink

The LF Youths in Dekwaneh

The LF youths from Dekwaneh have written in to us explaining to us how they have also taken action to protect their families and their neighborhoods. According to Ibrahim Jaalouk, a 20 year old student, the LF in Dekwaneh have created IDs that are given out to all the local residents. These IDs are placed on the cars and only cars with these IDs are allowed to park in the area. The security in Dekwaneh is 24 hours around the clock. "The merchants comity (Lejnit al toujar) are helping out a lot with the security" said Jaalouk, "They are helping guard the streets from morning to 8 in the evening" he added. At 8 is when the youths take over and there are over 200 youths spread out in all the neighborhoods. They are also divided into two shifts, the first is from 8pm till 2am while the second from 2am till 8am. In every street their are 8 youths, 4 sitting, 2 in the car driving around and 2 walking. The youths also wear ID cards so that the residents of the area know who they are. Communication among the youths is done via walkie-talkies. "We have 2 walkie-talkies in every street and 1 in every car, we are always in communicating with each other" said Jaalouk. According to him the youths try to entertain each other with stories and that the argeleh (water pipe) is always ready. Due to the lack of any decent security from the government, responsible young LF youths are doing what they can to help bring security in their areas, for that we thank them.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 11, 2005 | Permalink

Samir Geagea may get freedom after Syria leaves

Locked away for more than a decade while other Lebanese wartime militia leaders rose up the political ranks, Christian Maronite warlord Samir Geagea may be closer to release as Syrian forces withdraw from Lebanon.

Geagea, who led the Lebanese Forces (LF), was jailed for crimes including assassinations committed in the 1975-1990 civil war. His supporters blame Syrian meddling for his jailing saying Damascus saw his anti-Syrian stance as a threat.

Geagea, 52, a charismatic leader when he headed his militia, still commands respect among sections of the Maronite community, where some still swear allegiance to his now banned LF party.

Even former Christian, Muslim or Druze foes — now united in opposition to Syria — are calling for his release.

“It is not acceptable that one of the Lebanese is treated as a criminal while similar persons are treated as leaders. I think Geagea should be free,” said Boutros Harb, a prominent Maronite anti-Syrian opposition lawmaker.

Dozens of opposition deputies in parliament, now dominated by pro-Syrians, have signed a petition for his release, which lawyers say will require parliament to vote for changes to Lebanon’s amnesty laws that cover the civil war period.

The anti-Syrian opposition expects to win a majority in elections, due next month, after a wave of support following the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Others are less enthusiastic, but former prime minister Selim Al Hoss, a Sunni Muslim, says it may help unite Lebanon.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 11, 2005 | Permalink

LF Activists Brandish Geagea's Portraits in Deir Al Ahmar

The Syrian army has evacuated the key Bekaa Valley town of Deir Al Ahmar near Baalbek, triggering jubilant celebrations by the predominantly Christian population loyal to jailed Lebanese Forces Commander Samir Geagea.
Demonstrators took to the streets the moment the Syrians pulled away from their last post in Deir Al Ahmar. They brandished big Geagea portraits along with a forest of LF flags and Lebanon's national colors.

The Deir Al Ahmar evacuation coincided with massive withdrawal operations that saw more than 200 Syrian tanks, armored personnel carriers and military trucks loaded with Syrian soldiers crossing the border back to Syria proper overnight through the Masnaa-Jdeidet Yabous pass, many towing anti-aircraft guns.

Syrian military intelligence personnel left their office in Mashghara in the southern part of the Bekaa Valley, after the Syrian army garrison departed from the town that formed the Syrian's forward-most line overlooking Israel's northern fringe.

Also in the southern part of the Bekaa Valley, Syrian forces withdrew late Sunday from three positions near the town of Joub Jannine, Lebanese security officials said. They said that some 500 Syrian soldiers, 70 tanks and 20 trucks filled with belongings and ammunition headed toward the border crossing of Masnaa.(AP-Naharnet)

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, April 11, 2005 | Permalink

Sitrida Sets 'Free-Geagea' Bill in Motion with Speaker Berri

Sitrida Geagea was reported Sunday to have planned a visit to Speaker Berri at his offices in Parliament sometime this week to lodge with him a draft bill signed by 30 legislators to amend the 1992 post-civil war amnesty law in order to get her husband Samir Geagea out of prison before the spring elections. Several Beirut radio and TV networks said Mrs. Geagea's move would set in motion the legislative machinations to free the Lebanese Forces commander from nearly 11 years in jail at the defense Ministry compound in Yarze.

Lebanon's opposition front, which comprises more than 45 parliament members and several legislators from the loyalist camp have declared support in public for Geagea's release so that he would be able to lead the LF in the spring parliamentary elections.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 10, 2005 | Permalink

Grenade blast at Beirut bank

A hand grenade was lobbed at a bank in a Christian town northeast of Beirut last night. There were no casualties reported, but the bomb caused some damage to the building in the mountain resort town of Dhour Shweir, police said.

Dhour Shweir is about 20km northeast of Beirut in the Christian heartland.

It was the fifth explosion to rock Christian areas of Lebanon since March 19.

Four previous explosions killed three people and wounded 24 and caused severe damage to the shopping, residential and industrial areas they targeted.

Fear has gripped Lebanon following the recent spate of bombs, which have been placed under or near cars.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, April 09, 2005 | Permalink

Local communities take security matters into their own hands

AIN AL-ROUMANEH: Lebanon's recent string of bomb attacks directed against the country's Christian heartland has resulted in a weary population taking security matters into its own hands. Set against the backdrop of the ongoing political crisis spurred by the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, the late-night bombings have taken place at a regular four to five day intervals. Added to this have been several bomb threats and isolated incidents of clashes between pro-Syrian and anti-government factions on the street, racking up a climate of fear.

In a bid to protect their neighborhoods and assist overstretched security forces, local residents have come together to form security vigils. From Achrafieh to Ain al-Roumaneh, Bourj Hammoud to Hadath, groups of young men can be seen patrolling the streets and alerting the army of any suspicious activity.

"All the Christian areas have vigil groups now, operating at night," explains Maroun Fares, a 43-year-old taxi driver from the Ain al-Roumaneh suburb of Beirut, who does a four hour vigil shift every night. "The biggest and most efficient ones are those in Doura and Ain al-Roumaneh, because these are areas that have most Lebanese Forces members and most youth. We started doing this right after Hariri was killed, because we knew that there was going to be trouble, especially in our area."

From 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., groups of men gather on street corners, chatting and smoking their nargilehs as they monitor traffic. Others do rounds on the block which has been assigned to them.

"Lebanon has suffered a lot of attacks lately, and the police can't do it all themselves, so we are helping them out," says 22- year-old Wassim Khoury, sitting with a group on the corner of the old green line which divided Ain al-Roumaneh. "We are here every night, some stay put at a specific corner, and others do rounds in the area. We will continue doing this until we have found out the truth about who killed Rafik Hariri."

The groups explain they have the advantage of knowing their areas and the residents who live there.

"We stop every car that comes into the neighborhood to ask to driver where he is going and what he is doing here, and since we all come from Doura, we can recognize the people who live here," says Charly Geagea, a 21-year-old resident.

Although largely acting upon their own initiative, the groups tend to coordinate their efforts with the army.

"If we see anything, we contact the police or the army by walkie-talkie or cell phone," says Emile Daou, an 18-year-old student from Ain al-Roummaneh. "We are also in regular contact by walkie-talkie with groups patrolling other areas - Dora, Hadath, and so on."

Down the street from Daou's corner, an army officer is seen chatting and laughing with a group of men. Yet relations between the authorities and the groups remain fickle, with the authorities occasionally clamping down on residents' self-initiated security measures.

A confrontation reportedly emerged Friday night between the army and residents of Dora who had set up their own security checkpoint. The groups were eventually ordered home.

Nevertheless, officials readily acknowledge the need to beef up the security apparatus and complain of lack of resources.

"Sin al-Fil's security is threatened and the absence of the government is obvious," says the mayor of the area, Nabil Kahaleh. "The municipality has had to assign around 30 people to help the police at night, because the state's security forces are virtually absent from this area. We are in need of greater protection, as well as help to decrease the tensions among the citizens of this neighborhood."

The vigil groups insist they are unarmed. Should they come under attack, they would resort to legal means to defend themselves, asserts Geagea. "Nobody here is armed. Should there be any trouble, everybody in our group knows a martial art - karate, aikido or tae kwon do."

Others acknowledge possessing weapons, but leave them at home, so as to not provoke the authorities.

"We all have weapons at home, but we never bring them with us when we do the vigils, so as to not have any trouble with the municipality," says Fares. "But the army knows we all have arms."

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 07, 2005 | Permalink

LF Youths Protect Neighbourhoods

A spate of bombings has brought Christian youths out onto the streets of east Beirut, checking each night for parked cars from outside the neighbourhood and occasionally stopping drivers to ask where they are heading.

Four night-time blasts in two weeks, all targeting Christian areas, have rattled residents who are already on edge as Lebanon grapples with its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

But the groups of youths, some of which follow duty rotas through the night, have not gone down well with security forces who see in them uncomfortable reminders of the wartime militias which almost tore the country apart.

"We are worried there may be a bombing, so we are just helping the security forces. If there are strangers in the area, we ask them where they are going, or what they are doing," said George Hannouche, an 18-year-old hotel management student.

Hannouche and his Maronite Christian friends, mostly in their late teens or early 20s, gather each night on a street corner in Beirut's Ain al-Roumaneh area watching for suspicious cars or wandering around a nearby church they fear might be hit.

The youths are too young to remember much of Lebanon's war, and certainly not the initial emergence of sectarian militias who fought some of the fiercest Beirut battles a few hundred metres (yards) from where Hannouche stands watch.

But others have longer memories and worry the unarmed groups could turn into something more menacing if left unchecked.

"The army will crack down on these groups soon. These groups are reminiscent of what was going on during the civil war, under the slogan of keeping your own community security. This is unacceptable," a senior security official said.

PARTY ALLEGIANCE

Hannouche's group and others like it guarding strategic points around the Christian area say no one in their community directed them to act. But most, nonetheless, claim allegiance to the Lebanese Forces (LF), a banned wartime Christian militia. One youth wore the LF's stylised crucifix symbol.

Patrick Habib, who works at a Chinese restaurant during the day, said one group had already been broken up in Sad al-Boushrieh, where one of the recent bombings gutted workshops.

"One night the security came, took them in and said they couldn't continue," said the 21-year-old, adding that his group would contact the police if they spotted a suspicious car.

The bombings followed the huge explosion that killed former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and 19 others on Feb. 14.

Some Lebanese blame the attacks on Syria, which is withdrawing forces from Lebanon. Damascus denies any involvement.

The bombers may be trying to rekindle sectarian conflict, but many Lebanese say they see no likelihood of short-term instability heralding a return to civil war.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, April 07, 2005 | Permalink

More Pictures of the Explosion

BloggingBeirut just added pictures taken the day after the explosion in Broummana. The pictures show the grisly scene of the bombing and the damages it inflicted. click here to view them.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 03, 2005 | Permalink

Blast shakes Lebanon resort center

A bomb severely damaged a shopping and residential center in a mountain resort in the Christian heartland northeast of Beirut, lightly injuring seven people, police and witnesses said.

Several other people were treated at the scene Friday and released. The injured included an American and a Kuwaiti national, police said.

The explosion in Broummana, a posh mountain resort overlooking Beirut and the Mediterranean coastline, is the fourth in about two weeks to hit a Christian area of Lebanon where support for the anti-Syrian opposition is high. It came as the country was engulfed in its worst political crisis in years.

Residents reported hearing an explosion at about 9:45 p.m. (1845GMT) Friday, targeting the Rizk Plaza with clothing stores on the ground floor and furnished apartments above. Ambulances with their sirens wailing rushed to the scene.

Damage was severe. The explosion started a fire, shattered glass in several nearby buildings, blew out shutters of stores, smashed several cars and knocked down a light pole. Firefighters evacuated residents of the building as they put out the blaze in the building and doused wrecked cars with water.

Police and troops sealed off the area. Red Cross workers helped some residents who were overcome by the smoke and shock amid a sudden downpour. Rescuers placed a woman on a stretcher and administered oxygen to help her breathe. One ceiling in the two-story underground parking lot collapsed on vehicles.

Among the injured was a child, an elderly man and a woman and an American journalist identified as David Livingstone who worked for the Daily Star newspaper.

"We were sitting watching TV when the bomb went off. We were tossed around, shattered glass, doors and bricks on top of us," said an old man, speaking from his hospital bed.

Livingstone was watching the news on television at his fiancee's apartment in a building next door.

"There's a sudden explosion. We go flying forward. Lights go out. Complete pandemonium," he said on LBC television from his hospital bed, head wrapped with a bandage. He said four people were slightly hurt, "nothing I think that's serious. But it was scary."

Police said the bomb was placed in the underground parking at the center, which is on the main stretch of the resort town in the pinewooded mountains. A preliminary police estimate put the size of the bomb at about 20 kilograms (44 pounds).

Broummana, some 15 kilometers (about 10 miles) northeast of the Lebanese capital, is lightly populated in winter but is packed in the summer with Arab and other tourists. President Emile Lahoud's hometown of Baabdat is only a few kilometers up the same mountain ridge.

Lebanon has been in turmoil since the February 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a massive bombing on a Beirut street. Hariri and 19 other people were killed.

The killing, which anti-Syrian opposition blames on Syria and its Lebanese allies, triggered massive anti-Syrian demonstrations and an international uproar that forced Damascus to begin withdrawing its army from the neighboring country after nearly three decades of dominating it.

The explosion was the fourth since March 19, when an explosion ripped through a commercial and residential neighborhood of New Jdeideh. Four days later, another bomb wrecked a shopping center in the picturesque port city of Jounieh north of Beirut. Last Saturday, a bomb set fires to factories in an industrial zone in the Beirut suburb of Bouchrieh.

In all, two people were killed and 24 were injured. All explosions happened late at night, with destruction high but casualties low.

Anti-Syrian leaders have blamed Damascus and allied Lebanese security authorities for the bombings they say are aimed at proving Syrian troops are needed to maintain security in Lebanon. The pro-Syrian camp blamed saboteurs for destabilizing the country in order to invite international intervention.

Pierre Gemayel and Ghassan Moukheiber, two opposition legislators for the region, blamed security agencies loyal to the government and Syria for the latest bombing. "It's part of the same chain. They are political messages that aim at breaking up national unity," Gemayel said. "This is a wanton war against the Lebanese people," Moukheiber said.

"I cannot believe that the intelligence people and the general security they don't have an idea of who's behind the bombings," Moukheiber said. "The only way for citizens to respond is not to be frightened."

But Michel Murr, the pro-Syrian deputy parliament speaker who represents the region, also denounced the attack, which he said was preceded by leaflets predicting a bombing. He urged authorities to exert extra efforts to apprehend the culprits.

The bomb explosion came shortly after a major political development in Beirut, when pro-Syrian politicians rejected Prime Minister-designate Omar Karami's decision to step down and instead urged him to form a Cabinet.

The Lebanese political process has been deadlocked for weeks since Karami stepped down in the wake of Hariri's assassination. He later resumed the post, but said earlier this week that he was relinquishing efforts to form a Cabinet because of objections from the opposition.

The impasse threatens to delay parliamentary elections, which must be held before May 31, the day the current legislature's mandate expires.

In a meeting, the pro-Syrian factions "once again unanimously confirmed their rejection of giving up the principle of forming a government under his (Karami's) leadership," said Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, one of Syria's closest allies.

[via]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, April 03, 2005 | Permalink

Videos from Broummana Explosion

Someone sent me a link to for videos from the Broummana Explosion, click here to go to the site.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, April 02, 2005 | Permalink

9 People, Including 1 American, Injured in Brummana Bombing

9 People, Including 1 American, Injured in Brummana Bombing
Police said Saturday nine people, including one American, were injured and hospitalized from a bomb that ripped a parking lot of a commercial center in Lebanon's summer resort town of Brummana the previous night.

Most of the injuries were caused by flaying glass and smoke from the explosion of a 25-kilogram explosive charge that targeted the Rizk Plaza, a complex of living apartments with shops and a branch of slain ex-Premier Hariri's Bank Mediterrane at the lower floors, a police statement said.

The blast also wrecked dozens of private cars inside and near the targeted parking lot. Many were set afire but subsequent heavy rains put down the blaze before fire engines could make to Brummana, a favorite of Gulf summer vacationers a 30-minute drive from Beirut into the Metn Mountains.

Many other tenants were treated on the spot for shock and respiratory difficulties as civil defense volunteers climbed on make-shift steel ladders to bring victims out of the higher floors. They were put on stretchers with oxygen masks.

Opposition leaders, who raced to inspect the blast scene, openly blamed the bombing on Syria's intelligence service and affiliated security departments in Lebanon, which are out to show that Syria's withdrawal would leave Lebanon in chaotic instability.

This was the fourth such bombing since the Syrians began to pullout their army and intelligence personnel from Lebanon hard on the heels of ex-Premier Hariri's assassination Feb. 14.

All four bombings hit targets in Lebanon's Christian heartland, a concept seen by the opposition as designed by Syria to fan the flames of a new civil war and show that Lebanon still cannot afford the security backlash of the withdrawal of the service and affiliated security departments of President Lahoud's Syrian-sponsored regime.

[via]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, April 02, 2005 | Permalink

Explosion in Broummana

A bomb exploded in a parking lot of a commercial center in Lebanon's summer resort town of Broumana late Friday and the local media said there were an undetermined number of casualties.
Police said there were no fatalities. A few tenants in the building suffered minor cuts from flying glass and they were all treated on the spot by red cross volunteers.

Fire engines raced to the scene of the blast as civil defense rescuers climbed on steel ladders into the higher apartments of the center and brought out several women and children suffering from smoke. The casualties were seen put on stretchers with oxygen masks on their faces. Police and rescuers were happy that heavy rains began pouring down minutes after the explosion ripped through the parking lot of the Rizk Plaza Center, which is a complex of commercial shops at the ground floor and living apartments in higher stories.

Broumana, which is a half hour drive into the Metn mountains east of Beirut, is a favorite summer resort for vacationers form oil-rich Gulf countries.

This was the fourth such bombing since Syrian troops began evacuating Lebanon two weeks ago. The three previous explosions were blamed by Lebanon's opposition front on Syria's intelligence service and affiliated security departments of President Lahoud's Syrian-sponsored regime.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, April 01, 2005 | Permalink