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Samir Geagea
Samir Farid Geagea (Arabic: سمير فريد جعجع, Lebanese Arabic: [saˈmiːɾ faˈɾiːd ˈʒaʕʒaʕ] ⓘ, also spelled Samir Ja'ja' ; born 25 October 1952) is a Lebanese politician and former militia commander who has been the leader of the Lebanese Forces political party and former militia since 1986.
Born in Ain al-Remaneh, Geagea joined the nationalist Kataeb Party in his early years. He led the Northern Front in the Lebanese Forces from 1979 to 1984. In March 1985, after the deterioration of the Christian political situation in the eastern regions after the assassination of the Lebanese Forces leader Bachir Gemayel, he led, jointly with Elie Hobeika and Karim Pakradouni, an uprising that led to control of the political situation without any bloodshed. On 15 January 1986, Geagea led a coup against the tripartite agreement sponsored by Syria to become the commander of the Lebanese Forces after the overthrow of Elie Hobeika, head of the executive body at the time and one of the signatories of the tripartite agreement.
Geagea initially supported the "War of Liberation" declared by disputed Prime Minister General Michel Aoun against the Syrian Army. On 31 January 1990, the Lebanese Armed Forces led by Michel Aoun declared war on the Lebanese Forces, officially naming it "the War of the Unification of the Rifle," but later being referred to as the War of Elimination.
Under Geagea, the Lebanese Forces agreed to the Taif Accord peace agreement that ended the civil war and ceded control of its territory to the Lebanese Army, and sold their arms to Serbian factions fighting in the Yugoslav Wars in 1991. In accordance with the agreement, he immediately dissolved the military and security arm of the Lebanese Forces and surrendered all its military assets to the Lebanese Army. But as Beirut was under the control of the Syrian Army, the party members were subject to pressure and Syrian forces refused to withdraw as set out in the agreement.
On 24 January 1990, Geagea was appointed a Minister of State in the first post-war cabinet, led by Prime Minister Omar Karami. Geagea rejected the position due to the flagrant control of the cabinet by the Syrian regime. On 16 May 1992, Geagea was again appointed as a minister in the Rashid El Solh cabinet, only to refuse it again for the same reasons. In 1994, Geagea was arrested and put on trial for bombing a church and political killings in the war. He denied the accusations and claimed he was the target of a political prosecution fabricated by the Syrian-Lebanese security apparatus.
Geagea spent 11 years in solitary confinement. Following the Cedar Revolution, and the subsequent withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, a newly elected Lebanese Parliament voted to grant him amnesty on 18 July 2005.
Geagea was born in the Ain el-Remmeneh district in Beirut on 25 October 1952 to a modest Maronite family from the town of Bsharri in northern Lebanon. His father, Farid Geagea was an adjutant in the Lebanese Army. His brother, Joseph, is a mathematician in Maryland He attended "Ecole Bénilde" elementary and secondary school in Furn el-Chebek, which was a free private school. With the aid of a scholarship from the Khalil Gibran association, he studied medicine at the American University of Beirut and then at Saint Joseph University. After the outbreak of civil war in 1975, Geagea interrupted his four years studies at the American University of Beirut. He was an active member of the right-wing Phalangist Party, which became the main Christian fighting force upon the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. He is married to MP Sethrida Geagea.
Geagea steadily rose through the ranks and led several operations at the request of Bachir Gemayel, then commander of the Phalangist Kataeb Regulatory Forces militia. In June 1978, following the murder of a Phalangist party leader Joud el Bayeh in the North Lebanon in a power struggle with former president Suleiman Frangieh, Bachir Gemayel ordered Geagea and Elie Hobeika to co-lead a unit to capture the suspects who were taking cover in Frangieh's mansion in Ehden. The incident is known as Ehden massacre. The attacking force (which somehow went past over dozens of Syrian army checkpoints) was met with resistance on the outskirts of Ehden where Geagea was hit. He was transported to Beirut and admitted to Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Achrafieh, Beirut where ironically he was doing his internship. His right hand was partially paralyzed and he never continued his education. Meanwhile, the military operation resulted in the murder of Tony Frangieh and his family. Geagea was later transported to a hospital in France.
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Samir Geagea
Samir Farid Geagea (Arabic: سمير فريد جعجع, Lebanese Arabic: [saˈmiːɾ faˈɾiːd ˈʒaʕʒaʕ] ⓘ, also spelled Samir Ja'ja' ; born 25 October 1952) is a Lebanese politician and former militia commander who has been the leader of the Lebanese Forces political party and former militia since 1986.
Born in Ain al-Remaneh, Geagea joined the nationalist Kataeb Party in his early years. He led the Northern Front in the Lebanese Forces from 1979 to 1984. In March 1985, after the deterioration of the Christian political situation in the eastern regions after the assassination of the Lebanese Forces leader Bachir Gemayel, he led, jointly with Elie Hobeika and Karim Pakradouni, an uprising that led to control of the political situation without any bloodshed. On 15 January 1986, Geagea led a coup against the tripartite agreement sponsored by Syria to become the commander of the Lebanese Forces after the overthrow of Elie Hobeika, head of the executive body at the time and one of the signatories of the tripartite agreement.
Geagea initially supported the "War of Liberation" declared by disputed Prime Minister General Michel Aoun against the Syrian Army. On 31 January 1990, the Lebanese Armed Forces led by Michel Aoun declared war on the Lebanese Forces, officially naming it "the War of the Unification of the Rifle," but later being referred to as the War of Elimination.
Under Geagea, the Lebanese Forces agreed to the Taif Accord peace agreement that ended the civil war and ceded control of its territory to the Lebanese Army, and sold their arms to Serbian factions fighting in the Yugoslav Wars in 1991. In accordance with the agreement, he immediately dissolved the military and security arm of the Lebanese Forces and surrendered all its military assets to the Lebanese Army. But as Beirut was under the control of the Syrian Army, the party members were subject to pressure and Syrian forces refused to withdraw as set out in the agreement.
On 24 January 1990, Geagea was appointed a Minister of State in the first post-war cabinet, led by Prime Minister Omar Karami. Geagea rejected the position due to the flagrant control of the cabinet by the Syrian regime. On 16 May 1992, Geagea was again appointed as a minister in the Rashid El Solh cabinet, only to refuse it again for the same reasons. In 1994, Geagea was arrested and put on trial for bombing a church and political killings in the war. He denied the accusations and claimed he was the target of a political prosecution fabricated by the Syrian-Lebanese security apparatus.
Geagea spent 11 years in solitary confinement. Following the Cedar Revolution, and the subsequent withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, a newly elected Lebanese Parliament voted to grant him amnesty on 18 July 2005.
Geagea was born in the Ain el-Remmeneh district in Beirut on 25 October 1952 to a modest Maronite family from the town of Bsharri in northern Lebanon. His father, Farid Geagea was an adjutant in the Lebanese Army. His brother, Joseph, is a mathematician in Maryland He attended "Ecole Bénilde" elementary and secondary school in Furn el-Chebek, which was a free private school. With the aid of a scholarship from the Khalil Gibran association, he studied medicine at the American University of Beirut and then at Saint Joseph University. After the outbreak of civil war in 1975, Geagea interrupted his four years studies at the American University of Beirut. He was an active member of the right-wing Phalangist Party, which became the main Christian fighting force upon the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. He is married to MP Sethrida Geagea.
Geagea steadily rose through the ranks and led several operations at the request of Bachir Gemayel, then commander of the Phalangist Kataeb Regulatory Forces militia. In June 1978, following the murder of a Phalangist party leader Joud el Bayeh in the North Lebanon in a power struggle with former president Suleiman Frangieh, Bachir Gemayel ordered Geagea and Elie Hobeika to co-lead a unit to capture the suspects who were taking cover in Frangieh's mansion in Ehden. The incident is known as Ehden massacre. The attacking force (which somehow went past over dozens of Syrian army checkpoints) was met with resistance on the outskirts of Ehden where Geagea was hit. He was transported to Beirut and admitted to Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Achrafieh, Beirut where ironically he was doing his internship. His right hand was partially paralyzed and he never continued his education. Meanwhile, the military operation resulted in the murder of Tony Frangieh and his family. Geagea was later transported to a hospital in France.