LebaneseForces.com: Fighting for Freedom

To The Woman Who Did Nothing But Sacrifice

By Fadi Baaklini. [Link]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, September 29, 2005 | Permalink

Geagea Makes First Public Appearance Before LF Rally in Paris

Samir Geagea has made his first public appearance before a rally of Lebanese Forces activists in Paris, noting that his tormentors and those who conspired to eliminate the LF from the face of earth "have themselves landed in jail in the blink of an eye," An Nahar and others reported on Thursday.

Videotape footages played of the rally on Beirut networks showed Geagea addressing the audience with a steadier voice and walking out of the hall with a steadier step than anytime before since his release in Beirut from 11 years in jail July 26.

"They put me in jail so that I would loose something, but I have come out winning many more things," said Geagea, who still looked slim but bustling nevertheless with vitality. His remarks were greeted by repeated applause from the audience.

"Those who were responsible for destroying the Lebanese Forces, framing them by wrong files and passing pre-arranged sentences against us so that we cease to exist on planet earth are now themselves in jail within an eye blink," Geagea said.

He got a standing ovation when he declared "we used to describe our territory in the past as stretching from Kfarshima to the Madfoun and we can say nowadays it stretches from Kbayyet to the Kleiaa." That was an obvious reference to the narrow territory the LF commanded during the civil war in Lebanon's Christian heartland and the current area of influence from northern-most to southern-most Lebanon.

"One of the lessons we are supposed to have learned over the past 11 years is that we have only our country to work for," he said. "The time has come for action and the beginning will be the moves we will take to protest the attack on dearest May Chidiac," Geagea said. "It is definitely a clear message addressed to us, but it will not affect our determination."

Click here to watch the video

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, September 29, 2005 | Permalink

Samir Geagea's Phone Call

After the assassination attempt of May Chidiac, Samir Geagea called in live and made a speech.
Click here to listen to the speech.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 | Permalink

Geagea to the Lebanese: 'Do not Panic, the Crisis is Fading'

Samir Geagea urged the Lebanese not to panic over May Chidiac's assassination attempt and said in an interview published by An Nahar Monday "this is not a beginning of a crisis but an end of the crisis."

"These regrettable events show the desperation of the masterminds over their attempts to strangle the new Lebanon, which is trying to be born from the womb of the last 15 years," Geagea said from his unannounced place of residence in Europe.

Asked whether he considers the Lebanese Forces were targeted by the attempt on May's life, Geagea said "I think May's assassination attempt targeted the whole of the new Lebanon that is being born. The Lebanese Forces are party of this birth."

Chidiac joined the LBCI in 1985 during the height of the Lebanese civil war. The network was then viewed as a mouthpiece of the LF.

"Sitrida and myself are in pain for May's ordeal, a dear friend of our family. But pain would not obscure my vision from seeing the future. It is a good future, but nothing is easy," Geagea said.

In response to a question, Geagea said "I am in good health and my presence abroad is not for security reasons, but for certain preparations in many aspects that are delaying my return to Lebanon, which is not going to be too distant."

He urged the Lebanese to participate en masse in the students' sit-in at Freedom Square Monday evening.

Click here to listen to the speech.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, September 26, 2005 | Permalink

Students Resurrect March 14 Uprising at Martyrs Square for Chidiac

Student unions from all political parties banding under the March 14 anti-Syria uprising are returning to downtown Beirut's Martyrs Square to stage a candlelight protest against May Chidiac's assassination attempt at sundown Monday.

The student branches of Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces, Saad Hariri's Tayyar Al Mustaqbal and Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party have collectively declared that they would stage the protest across the street from slain ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's grave.

Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, Jumblat's senior-most aide, has squarely accused Syrian intelligence operatives left behind after the April evacuation with engineering the attempt on Chidiac's life, like all other previous terrorist attacks since the car-bomb assassination attempt he survived Oct. 1.

"There are remnants of the security apparatus who seem to be somewhere still causing security breaches. The country's security is exposed and anyone can fish in troubled waters and place bombs," Jumblat, in turn, said.

In an interview with LBC, Jumblat called for the appointment of new security officials to replace the four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals who were arrested in the Hariri probe. Appointments have been held up by disputes among political groups within the government.

Flag-waving LF activists are holding around-the-clock prayers for Chidiac's survival at Hotel Dieu's courtyard. They set up floodlit pictures of Jesus Christ festooned by candlelit crosses on the walls of the hospital.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, September 26, 2005 | Permalink

May Chidiac in 'Critical' Condition from Assassination Bomb that Chopped off her Hand, Leg

May Chidiac underwent nightlong surgeries at Beirut's Hotel Dieu Hospital and doctors said Monday she was in 'stable but critical condition,' recuperating in an intensive care unit from an assassination that severed her left hand and leg the day before.
"Her injuries were critical and she will remain under constant observation for the next few days," said a pre-dawn medical bulletin read to hundreds of journalists and cameramen maintaining around-the-clock vigil at the lobby of the hospital. She also suffered a broken hip and a multiple fracture in the right leg. Her vital organs were "stable," however.

Chidiac, 42, a leading anchorwoman at Beirut's LBCI television network, miraculously survived a bomb blast that ripped her grey 4-wheeler when she started the engine to drive out of a parking lot in the township of Ghadir close to the LBCI headquarters in Adma off the coastal city of Jounieh north of Beirut Sunday afternoon.

She was afire behind the wheel when onlookers rushed to extract her out of the burning car and extinguish her flaming clothes and hair with bed blankets from nearby homes. She was first taken to a Jounieh clinic and then transferred in a heavily escorted ambulance to Hotel Dieu.

Police said a 40-to-50 kilogram explosive charge was planted below her driver seat with a detonator attached to the ignition so that it would go off once the engine is started. But An Nahar said the bomb may have been detonated by a mobile telephone from a short distance.

Mrs. Chidiac began her working day with a 90-minute interview on LBCI with An Nahar's columnist Sarkis Naoum about a 'black cloud' hanging over Lebanon during the countdown for the U.N. report on the Feb. 14 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.

She drove afterwards from Adma to the house of attorney at law Asaad Fares for a prolonged lunch with his family in Ghadir and then walked out to her car in a nearby parking lot to go home. She landed in hospital, instead.

The attack on Chidiac was the latest in a series of bombings across the capital in which Hariri, An Nahar's columnist Samir Kassir and Communist ideologue George Hawi were killed. Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh and Defense Minister Elias Murr escaped separate car-bomb assassination attempts in October and July.

There has been growing speculation that the attacks would increase as the U.N. investigation into Hariri's assassination edges toward conclusion. Chief investigator Detlev Mehlis is due to announce the outcome in a report to the Security Council Oct. 21.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, September 26, 2005 | Permalink

Saniora Seeks FBI Experts to Track Down Chidiac's Would-be Assassins

Premier Saniora told reporters near the hospital theater where May Chidiac was operated on overnight that her assassination attempt was, like other recent terrorist bombings that lately rocked Lebanon, related to the U.N. investigation of Rafik Hariri's death.

"There is no doubt it is all related, we don't want to deny that," Saniora said, assuring the Lebanese that the "former era is dying and we are paying the tax for freedom and independence" from 29 years of Syrian hegemony over Lebanon.

Saniora disclosed that he had asked U.S. ambassador Jeffrey Feltman to provide technical assistance to help track down Chidiac's would-be assassins. An Nahar said the premier specifically asked for FBI specialists in criminal investigation to lift evidence from the scene of the attempted murder.

An Nahar said Lebanese police have seized all security cameras posted around the LBCI headquarters in Adma and the parking lot where Chidiac had left her car to have lunch. They also traced all mobile telephone calls made before and after her assassination attempt.

Saniora and President Lahoud met at Hotel Dieu Hospital as they rushed to her bedside. The president, with the First Lady on his side, called on the Lebanese to stand united to confront the "conspiracy" and said "such attacks will not affect the freedom of expression in Lebanon."

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, September 26, 2005 | Permalink

St-Ilige Mass Pictures

Click here to view them. Pictures sent in by Tabouk.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, September 26, 2005 | Permalink

Martyrs Mass Pictures

Pictures from todays Martyrs Mass are now online. Pictures taken by RAA. Special thanks to Pierre for helping out also.
Click here to view the pictures.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, September 26, 2005 | Permalink

May Chidiac Suffers Critical Injuries in Booby-Trap Car Assassination

Leading Lebanese TV anchorwoman May Chidiac suffered critical wounds when her booby-trapped car exploded in yet another assassination attempt in Lebanon Sunday. She was burning behind the wheel when rescuers extracted her and extinguished flames coming out from her clothes and hair. They rushed her to a nearby hospital where she is fighting for her life amid reports that her left leg and left arm were torn off by the blast.

She was later taken from the small Jounieh clinic to the well-equipped Hotel Dieu hospital in Beirut where doctors said she was in stable condition breathing normally and none of the body organs was seriously hurt, the LBCI reported.

The car was ripped to shreds and pieces littered a 50-meter radius on the edge of the coastal city of Jounieh north of Beirut, witnesses told the LBCI, a TV network May Chidiac works for.

The LBCI said the bomb was placed under the driving seat and attached to the engine of her four wheel drive. The blast went off when she turned on the ignition to drive out from a parking lot in the area.

Chidiac was the second journalist to be targeted by such a bomb attack. On June 2, An Nahar's anti-Syria columnist Samir Kassir was killed in a similar explosion in Beirut.

The attack capped a string of terrorist attacks that hit Lebanon during the turmoil that was generated by Syria's gunpoint extension of President Lahoud's term in power last September.

Current Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh miraculously survived a car bomb assassination attempt near his Beirut house Oct. 1. Ex-Premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated on February 14. Communist Ideologue George Hawi was also killed June 21 and Defense Minister Elias Murr survived an assassination bombing ambush July 12.

[Naharnet]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, September 25, 2005 | Permalink

May Chidiac Assassination Attempt

A bomb planted in the car of a prominent Lebanese journalist blew up Sunday, critically wounding her, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation and Lebanese security officials said.

The blast apparently targeting LBC anchorwoman May Chidiac took place Sunday afternoon in Jounieh, north of Beirut.

Security officials said someone apparently placed the bomb underneath a seat in her car. The bomb destroyed the car.

LBC said Chidiac has "critical" wounds in her lower body and will undergo surgery at a hospital, the network said.

The blast follows numerous bombings in Lebanon, including previous attacks against journalists.

Many attacks have targeted people viewed as critical of Syria's presence in Lebanon.

Just hours before Sunday's bombing, Chidiac was hosting a program on LBC about the subject of the possible involvement of Syrians in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

The death of Hariri, a prominent opponent of Syria's presence in Lebanon, sparked a wave protests in the capital against what many viewed as an occupation. The protests help lead to Syria's announced withdrawal from the country.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, September 25, 2005 | Permalink

Bachir Gemayel's Mass

For pictures of this years Bachir Gemayel Mass click here.
Pictures taken by RAA.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 | Permalink

General Aoun: A Big Lie and Illusion [Repost]

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.

Click here for part I

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, September 17, 2005 | Permalink

Powerful Bomb Devastates Beirut Neighborhood

A powerful bomb ripped through a densely populated Beirut neighborhood five minutes before midnight, killing a Lebanese Armenian and wounding 25 persons in a savage persistence of destabilizing attacks that rocked Lebanon since Syria's evacuation.

The explosion went off in Ashrafiyeh's middle class district of Jeitawi as the nation's top officials are abroad. President Lahoud and Premier Seniora are at the United Nations and Parliament Speaker Berri is vacationing with his wife in Spain.

It struck a 4-storey building near a bank and a hospital at a Jeitawi alleyway, wreaking extensive destruction across the neighborhood. Balconies were torn off buildings overlooking the scene, where cars were sill smoldering Saturday morning. Glass shards of smashed windows littered areas within a one-mile radius.

Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, commander of the Internal Security Forces, said the explosive had been placed in a bag that was hidden between two cars, and detonated with a timing device.

The Agence France Presse quoted security services as saying a 10-to-20 kilogram bomb exploded in the stairways of a building, noting that initial reports spoke of a car bomb.

An LBCI reporter said the explosion went off near a Jeitawi coffee shop, killing its Armenian Lebanese owner and wounding 25 people in and around the café. Ambulances with wailing sirens rushed victims off to the nearby St. Georges and Jeitawi hospitals. One Injured person was reported in a very serious condition.

The blast came days ahead of an expected visit by Chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis to Damascus to interview senior Syrian officials over the deadliest of Lebanon's recent bomb attacks — the Feb. 14 one-ton bomb that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, ex-Economy Minister Bassel Fleihan and 21 others.

An anti-Syrian legislator accused the remnants of Syria's security apparatus of being behind Friday's blast. "The remains of the Syrian and Lebanese security regime are still present and they are behind this act," said Atef Majdalani, of Saad Hariri's Tayyar al Mustaqbal movement.

Another anti-Syrian legislator and cabinet minister, Michel Pharaoun, also from Hariri's group, said "it is for sure a message against stability in Lebanon." He added that it comes before a planned conference to help Lebanon in New York on Monday and ahead of the beginning of the U.N. probe into Syria's involvement in Rafik Hariri's murder.

Many Lebanese have expressed worries that bombings could increase as the investigation pushes forward. The U.N. team has already accused the four pro-Syrian commanding generals of Lebanon's main security services with complicity in Hariri's murder.

It was the 12th bomb attack in Lebanon since the February assassination of ex-premier Hariri.

Lebanese troops and police sealed off the area of the explosion which reverberated across the entire capital. Fire engines battled to extinguish fires and help evacuate residents.

"I was sleeping when I heard a loud explosion. I thought that it was an aerial bombing," one resident, Angele, told AFP after running out of her nearby apartment building.(Naharnet-AP-AFP)

Click here to view pictures

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, September 17, 2005 | Permalink

Geagea Speaks to Nation

Samir Geagea has invoked the "one-for-all and all-for-one" concept to build up the new Lebanon after shaking off Syria's 29-year tutelage, pledging to cement the alliance of his Lebanese Forces with Saad Hariri's Future Tide Movement and one-time civil war enemy Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party.

"This is a shiny epoch in our history.. an era of re-foundation," said Geagea in televised message to the nation from an undetermined venue in Europe, where he is recuperating from 11 years he spent in prison under the now defunct Syrian reign of terror. He was last reported recuperating in a Berlin suburb.

"Re-founding Lebanon cannot be done by controversies, or by trying to isolate one group by the other, or by the mere concept of numeric numbers, which is ever-changing, Geagea said on the eve of a memorial service at the Lady of Harissa cathedral.

He wore a pinstriped suit and an elegant necktie when he spoke from a desk seat adorned by Lebanon's national colors. Geagea, 52, looked healthy and his voice was steady as he red out his message that marked the annual anniversary of the LF civil war martyrs.

"Lebanon is the true land of consensus par excellence," Geagea declared, warning against fragmentation during the ongoing era of re-foundation and pledging to maintain constant consultations with Patriarch Sfeir, figures of the Qornet Shahwan Coalition and Gen. Aoun's bloc in parliament.

"We shall endeavor to activate and deepen our partnership with our allies of the Progressive Socialist Party and Tayyar Al Mustaqbal. Our hand will remain always stretched out to all," said Geagea in the address that was highlighted on the front pages of the Lebanese press along with pictures on Sunday.

[Naharnet]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, September 11, 2005 | Permalink

RADIO LF Online

Radio Lebanese Forces is back online with more songs including all the latest releases which are not available in the Audio Archive. To listen to RADIO LF, click on the radio icon on the right side of the website. More info here.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, September 09, 2005 | Permalink

New LF Song

Nora sent in a new LF song dedicated to Setrida. Here are the lyrics followed by a link to the MP3.

“wfiti bwa3dik” composed by Salim Yammine, written by Emile Fahed.

Nechfou 2lam l 7ebr byaddou 7itan l zenzani swaddou
7da3char 3am w enti 7addou ma t3ebti wla nhar
Yeghfa l leil 3younik teshar ye2sa lwayl t7enni aktar
2ad l mas2ouliye w akbar kenti raghm eli sar

Wfiti bwa3dik lel2ayed ma ghayarti l 3awayed
Men7ayiki w menhaniki wel2ouwat btekbar fiki

Byekfina 3ez bayanti 3an jadara
2esmik ma nhaz 2al3a mnelmajd 7jara
Bent l 2arzat khel2ani nafsik 7orra
Metl l rayat fiki lshams btetmarra

Boukra l 2ajyal badda tkhaber ousoutkon
Boukra l tarikh baddou yotla3 7ossotkon
Law mahma tal fajr l 7orriye jayyi
Ghayr l abtal ma byosmod lelnihayi

Click here to download the song.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, September 09, 2005 | Permalink

Sitrida Geagea Abruptly Leaves Lebanon for 'Security Reasons'

Sitrida Geagea has abruptly left Lebanon only two days after her return from recuperation trips across Europe with her husband Samir Geagea after his release in July from 10 ruthless years in jail. The Beirut media said Friday she "had to leave for security reasons," indicating her life was in danger.

Her departure was revealed as the parliamentary bloc of the Lebanese Forces met at Geagea's house in Zouk Mosbeh without her originally scheduled presence Thursday afternoon. The bloc said without elaboration after the conference that Mrs. Geagea "had to leave Lebanon for security considerations."

The statement said Mrs. Geagea had assured the bloc before leaving that the LF commander was in "perfect health."

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, September 09, 2005 | Permalink

Hariri and Geagea Meet in Berlin, Sitrida Back in Beirut

Saad Hariri and Samir Geagea have held extensive talks behind closed doors in suburban Berlin, where the commander of the Lebanese Forces is staying at present in the course of his physical and mental rehabilitation after his release from 11 years in jail in Lebanon.

The press office of the leader of the Tayyar Al Mustaqbal bloc in parliament said Hariri jetted from Paris to Berlin to meet Geagea on Monday and "hold a horizon round of talks on Lebanon's latest developments, especially in connection with Rafik Hariri's assassination."

Hariri and Geagea have agreed to hold further meetings to "follow up and coordinate on events," the Hariri press release said. The LF and Tayyar Al Mustaqbal were part of the March 14 alliance that captured a majority of 72 seats in Lebanon's first free-from-Syria parliament of the May-June elections.

It was the first authentic revelation of Geagea's presence in Germany, staying at a Berlin suburb. He had undergone extensive medical tests in a Parisian hospital upon his release from jail July 26. There were reports that Geagea and Hariri met in London two weeks ago.

Mrs. Sitrida Geagea, who had been with her husband since the outset of the European recuperation journey, returned to Beirut Monday. There was no word, however, whether her flight back home was designed to set the stage for Samir Geagea's return to Lebanon.

[Naharnet]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, September 06, 2005 | Permalink

Samir Geagea Speech

Last week I posted an old speech by Samir Geagea and I received many request for more. Thanks to RAA here is another old speech by Samir Geagea where he talks about Aoun and the Ilgha War. The speech is full of interesting facts and information. [MP3 7MB]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, September 02, 2005 | Permalink