LebaneseForces.com: Fighting for Freedom

Restoration of Sheikh Pierre Statue

Today the great statue of the great Sheikh Pierre was restored in Bikfaya... majestic as always. Even years after his death, Sheikh PIerre's remembrance managed to unite Christian ranks coming from all regions, majority of whom were Lebanese Forces members who came in masses and surpassed the numbers of Kataeb supporters.

Sheikh pierre's comrade, Antoine Ghanem praised during his speech all our martyrs from the first martyr of the Lebanese Front, Joseph Abi Assi, to William Hawi, Sheikh Bashir Gemayel, Maya Bashir Gemayel and all the way till Ramzi Irani and Pierre Boulos. He praised also the resistance of Dr. Geagea and called for his release which made the crowd gathered clap and yell heavily. Lebanon needs more than ever great men like Sheikh Pierre, President Chamoun, El Bash and Hakim... men devoted to their Cause and their people.

Pictures of the event available here.

Pictures and Post by 3agib.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, May 22, 2005 | Permalink

Al Massira Updated

http://www.almassira.com/

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, May 21, 2005 | Permalink

Lebanese Forces - Dekwaneh

The LF in Dekwaneh have recently started an LF propaganda campaign in their area. They are putting up posters, banners and flags all over Dekwaneh to show people that we are still here. They will continue with this propaganda campaign until our leader Samir Geagea gets released. Bob sent us pictures which you can view here.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, May 17, 2005 | Permalink

LF Mass in Kuwait

An LF mass was held in Kuwait tonight in which many LF members residing in Kuwait attended. The mass titled Natreenak or Waiting for you in english was held in the name of Samir Geagea. Numerous media covered the event including LBC, TeleLumiere, An Nahar, Reuters and Al Seyaseh newspaper. The pictures of the event are now online. Click here to view them.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 | Permalink

Sitrida Gets Assurances Samir Will Be Freed Before Elections

Sitrida Geagea says she has been assured by a cross-section of Lebanon's opposition that parliament is certain to hold a legislative session before the May-June elections to endorse the release of her husband Samir Geagea from 11 years in prison at the Defense Ministry in Yarze.

"In spite of what has happened in Parliament, I have received telephone assurances from many legislators, opposition and otherwise, that a special session will be held before the elections to pass the parole bill," Mrs. Geagea said in an interview aired by LBCI Saturday night.

Opposition legislators came close to trading blows with supporters of Speaker Berri for adjourning Saturday's session of parliament without allowing a vote on the parole bill for the Lebanese Force commander.

Berri's bloc members have declared after the stormy session that the Speaker was willing to call a legislative session even on the last day of the current parliament's mandate on May 31 devoted to only to vote on Geagea's parole bill, making it plain that the session was torpedoed by Berri to avoid a vote on a new electoral law, not on Geagea's release bill.

An Nahar noted on Sunday that Saad Rafik Hariri has pledged his father's bloc in parliament to campaign non-stop for a 'free-Geagea' session of parliament along with Druze leader Walid Jumblat's parliamentary bloc.

Jumblat plans to undertake soon a new initiative with ex-Premier Omar Karami to talk him into dropping the Karami family veto against Geagea's release because of the LF leader's alleged role in that 1987 assassination of then Lebanese premier Rashid Karami, Omar's elder brother, An Nahar said.

"Jumblat will try to persuade Omar Karami to fold the last page of the past and kick off a genuine national reconciliation in Lebanon through Geagea's parole bill," An Nahar said.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, May 08, 2005 | Permalink

Stormy Parliament Demands Lahoud be Sacked and Brought to Trial

Parliament failed in a stormy session Saturday to write a new law to govern the May-June elections and to vote on a draft bill to amnesty Lebanese Forces Commander Samir Geagea.

The session was called by Speaker Berri to act on an 11th hour letter from President Lahoud to hold the elections based on a law 'acceptable to all.'

The parliament near unanimously rejected Lahoud's message and held him directly responsible for sabotaging the promulgation of a new law in time for fair elections for the first legislature that would be free of Syrian control.

Many lawmakers demanded that Lahoud be impeached outright. Druze leader Walid Jumblat, spearhead of the opposition drive to oust Syria, said "there is an imperative need to oust the president and the election by parliament of a new head of state to steer Lebanon out of its current crisis."

Even one of the staunchest loyalists of Syria, former Vice Speaker Elie Firizly, shouted during the debate that a committee representing all blocs in parliament should go to the Baabda Palace and demand from the president to resign.

Several members of Hariri's bloc in parliament were also exceptionally outspoken in favor of dethroning Lahoud, demanding that he be tried before the nation's Higher Constitutional Council for lurching Lebanon from one crisis into another.

As the debate was about to draw to a close, a shouting match broke out between opposition legislator Fares Boueiz and Berri's supporters in parliament.

Local TV stations said the quarrel was about to develop into a fist fight when Berri suddenly gaveled an indefinite adjournment, blocking a vote on Geagea's parole and the promulgation of a new electoral law.

Opposition legislators then announced that they were staging an open-ended sit-in at parliament hall demanding that Berri returns to begin a new session devoted for paroling Geagea.

The termination of the session meant the elections would be held under the existing law which was drawn up in 2000 under Syria's tutelage.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, May 07, 2005 | Permalink

Bomb Blast Sets much of Jounieh Afire

A powerful bomb explosion wrecked a church and set a radio station building afire in the coastal town of Jounieh north of Beirut Friday night and local TV stations said a Sri Lankan woman was killed and 6 other people were injured, including 3 Egyptian workers. Army troops sealed off the blast scene as fire engines doused several burning shops from water hoses and ambulances with waling sirens evacuated the casualties to nearby hospitals.

The explosion occurred at the entrance of the town's old souk where Gen. Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement has a bureau. The general is scheduled to return to Lebanon from 14 years in exile in France on Saturday.

One target of the blast was the headquarters of the Voice of Love Christian radio station which devoted its daylong news casts Friday to talk shows about the plight of Lebanese prisoners held in Syrian jails. Near the radio station was Saint John church which sustained extensive damage.

President Lahoud issued a late night statement deploring the "bloody message" and asserting the Lebanese will remain united against acts of terrorism.

Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa raced to Jounieh from Beirut and took charge of military and police investigation.

click here to view pictures

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, May 06, 2005 | Permalink

Geagea's Parole Saturday?

Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir warned the opposition Friday that it could lose the May-June elections to Syria's loyalists unless an amicable agreement is reached nationwide on splitting the portions of seats of each group in the new parliament.

"The opposition has to work out a sharing formula without which it stands to loose the elections," Sfeir warned at a meeting with leading figures of the Qornet Shahwan coalition held at his seat in Bkirki marking its anniversary.

Butros Harb, a senior leader of Qornet Shahwan, said after the patriarchal audience that the coalition would press for a vote in Parliament Saturday on a new electoral law based on that of 1960 and a parole vote for jailed Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea.

Harb appealed to the family of slain former Prime Minister Rashid Karami not to veto Geagea's release because he was convicted by a supreme court of assassinating Karami in 1987 at the height of the Lebanese civil war.

Qornet Shahwan is sending a delegation to follow up on Harb's plea with ex-Premier Omar Karami in Tripoli on Friday. Rashid was Omar's elder brother. The Tripoli trip was proposed to Qornet Shahwan by Speaker Berri, indicating he would allow a parole vote if the Karami family drops its veto.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, May 06, 2005 | Permalink

Opposition Pressures Berri to Let Parliament Free Geagea

A fresh drive is in the works to get Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea out of prison before the May-June legislative elections, which will be dramatized by a massive sit-in near the Lebanese parliament at mid-morning Wednesday, the Beirut media reported on Tuesday.

All parliament members of slain ex-premier Hariri's bloc, Walid Jumblat's Democratic Coalition and Qornet Shahwan grouping have pledged to Mrs. Sitrida Geagea that they would take part in Wednesday's sit-in to pressure Speaker Berri into convening a legislative sitting of the legislator to vote on a Samir Geagea parole bill.

Spokesmen for the three blocs have openly accused Berri of deliberately keeping the parole bill from a certain vote of endorsement in the 128-seat parliament as part of his alleged schemes to maintain Syria's influence in Lebanon by means of canceling or postponing the May-June elections.

"We do not, repeat not, accept any postponement of the elections and we do not, repeat not, accept the postponement of Samir Geagea's release until after the elections," Sitrida Geagea told reporters after a meeting she held with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah upon his return to Bkirki from France Monday afternoon.

Mrs. Geagea was assured by Saad Rafik Hariri through a delegation that visited her at her house in suburban Zouk Mosbeh on Sunday that the ex-Premier's Tayyar Al Mustaqbal Movement would leave no stone unturned to help bring about an early release of Samir Geagea, who began last week an 11th year of incarceration at the defense ministry prison in Yarze.

A 6-man delegation of Walid Jumblat's parliament bloc headed by Marwan Hamadeh, gave a similar pledge to Mrs. Geagea on Monday.

"We shall be alongside the LF sit-in protestors near parliament on Wednesday," Hamadeh told reporters after the meeting." We appeal to Speaker Berri to speedily convene a legislative session of parliament to vote on Samir Geagea's parole bill, which has been endorsed by parliament's Justice Committee."

Hamadeh said the accomplishments of the position in getting Syria out of Lebanon and in ousting most of the symbols of the police state symbols after Hariri's Feb. 14 assassination amounted to a near-miracle. "But this miracle won't be finalized without a free Samir Geagea."

The Qornet Shahwan pledge of support for the LF sit-in came from legislator Butros Harb, who also visited Mrs. Geagea in Zouk Mosbeh on Sunday.

"We shall be there at the northern entrance to parliament with the LF for the release of Samir Geagea," Harb told reporters.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, May 03, 2005 | Permalink

Samir Geagea Week Media

Speech by Strida Geagea (24-4-05)
Speeches from Massira 2005 (by CodeWarrior)
- Daniel Spiro
- Motran Roland Abou Jawdeh
Video of Convoy to Massira 2005 (Video by 3agib)
Massira 2005 Pictures (Pictures by 3agib, RAA and Freedom)
Martyrs Square Gathering (Pictures on Lebanese-Forces.org)
LF Propaganda (Lebanon and Kuwait)

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, May 03, 2005 | Permalink

Saad Assures Sitrida of Fresh Bid to Free Geagea before Elections

Saad Rafik Hariri has assured Sitrida Geagea that the opposition would be mounting a fresh bid to have Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea released from jail before the May-June elections for a new parliament, the local media reported on Monday.

The political heir of slain ex-Premier Hariri delegated legislator Ahmad Fatfat for an hour-long meeting with Geagea's wife to convey the assurance that his father's Tayyar Al Mustaqbal Movement would leave no stone unturned to bring about the early release.

The opposition is bent on pressuring Speaker Berri to call a vote in parliament over a draft parole for Geagea, who has begun an 11th year of incarceration at the defense ministry jail in Yarze.

Fatfat told reporters the opposition would soon be sending a delegation to talk to ex-premier Omar Karami over the need to "fold the pages of the past" and start a new era of national reconciliation to remove the lingering fallout of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Karami is still resisting Geagea's release for his alleged involvement in engineering ex-Premier Rashid Karami's murder in a 1987 bomb blast at an army helicopter over the Christian heartland. Rashid was Omar's elder brother.

Several other opposition leaders, including Jumblat and presidential aspirant Butros Harb, have ledged to prevail upon Berri to put Geagea's parole for a vote in parliament soonest.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, May 02, 2005 | Permalink