Lebanese Forces
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The Lebanese Forces (LF) (Arabic: القوات اللبنانية al-Quwa'at al-Lubna'ani.ya) is a Lebanese party and a former militia, which played a major role in the civil war that ravaged Lebanon from 1975 till 1990. After the civil war ended, the movement reinvented itself as a political party. In 1994, its activities were banned, and its militants activities severely restricted by the Syrians and the pro-Syrian government. The LF returned as legal party after the Cedar Revolution in early 2005 resulted in a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. The movement is officially secular, but in practice, it has always been supported almost exclusively by Christians, especially Maronites. The LF is represented by the White flag, with a red circle (representing continuity and continuous resistance) and a cedar tree (the Lebanese national emblem) in the middle.
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[edit] Early history (1976–1982)
In opposition to an alliance of Palestinian and leftist Muslim militias, the Lebanese Forces (LF) were organized in 1976 under the leadership of Bachir Gemayel, and it was the military wing of the Kataeb, one of the main Christian political groups. The Lebanese Front was initially a loose coalition of disparate Christian militias, including the Marada of former President Suleiman Franjieh, the Tigers (linked to former President Camille Chamoun's National Liberal Party, or Ahrar), the militant Guardians of the Cedars, led by Etienne Saqr, the Tanzim, and the military wing of the Kataeb Party of Bachir Gemayel's father, Pierre Gemayel. Bachir Gemayel built the Lebanese Forces into a formidable fighting force.
Secret support from Israel bolstered the confidence of Bachir Gemayel, who felt that all the Christian militias should be under the Lebanese Forces. His relationship with other prominent Maronites, including Suleiman Franjieh and his son Tony, broke down. Franjieh's Marada_Brigade established links with the Syrians in order to counteract the agression of their former allies. The Lebanese Front was now divided into three factions, led by Bachir Gemayel, Dany Chamoun (Camille Chamoun's son), and Tony Franjieh.
Gemayel attacked the Marada Brigade at 4am, it was an attempt to gain control of northern Lebanon, where the Marada was based. Tony Franjieh was killed in the fighting, along with his wife and 2 year old daughter. However the attack was a failure which lead to further bloodshed between the two groups and the Marada.
Not long after that attack, Bashir Gemayel's daughter and his guards were killed in car bomb.
Later the Gemayel-Chamoun alliance broke down in 1980, Gemayel ordered an attack on the Tigers' Beirut headquarters. After a number of deaths, the Tigers surrendered and were forcibly merged into the LF.
With Tony Franjieh and Dany Chamoun out of the way, Bachir Gemayel managed to secure his run for presidency. 21 days after the election as Lebanese President, he was killed by a huge explosion by Habib Tanious Shartouni and Nabil Alam, both members of the Syrian Social National Party.
[edit] The Amine Gemayel years (1982–1988)
President Bachir Gemayel was assassinated on 14 September 1982, before having taken office. His brother, Amine replaced him as President and his cousin, Fadi Frem, as commander of the LF. The two had a frosty relationship, and in 1984, pressure from Amine Gemayel led to Frem's replacement by Fuad Abou Nader, a nephew of Gemayel's.
The LF participated in the "Mountain War", which led to the evacuation of the majority of the Christian population of Alley/Shouf, and a complete destruction of the Christian villages by the Druze and Palestinian. The LF also fought battles against the Palestinians, Druzes and Syrians to defend the Christians villages east of the southern city of Sidon.
Samir Geagea and Elie Hobeika rebelled against Abou Nader's command, ostensibly to take the LF back to its original path. Their relationship soon broke down, however, and Hobeika began secret negotiations with the Syrians and on 28 December 1985, he signed the Tripartite Accord, against the wishes of Geagea and most of the other leading Christian figures. Claiming that the Tripartite Accord gave Syria unlimited power in Lebanon, Geagea mobilized factions inside the LF and on January 15, 1986, attacked Hobeika's headquarters in Karantina. Hobeika surrendered and fled, first to Paris and subsequently to Damascus. Taking command of the LF, Geagea launched a drive to re-equip and reorganize the Lebanese Forces. He also instituted a social welfare program in areas controlled by the LF.
In 1988, the LF detained several members of the Lebanese Parliament, thereby preventing the return to the Presidency of Suleiman Franjieh, who was regarded as pro-Syrian. The LF also cut its relation with Israel and opened up to the Arabs, mainly Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.
[edit] The Aoun years (1988–1990)
Two rival governments contended for recognition following Amine Gemayel's departure from the Presidency in September 1988. The LF initially supported the one led by General Michel Aoun, who was also the Commander of the Lebanese Army.
Aoun first attempted to eliminate the LF on February 14, 1989, when Geagea was outside Lebanon for health reasons. The attempt failed, and months of debilitating fighting followed, for control over ports and other resources controlled by the LF. Geagea also refused to support Aoun's "Liberation War" against the Syrian army, saying that it was doomed from the outset. He agreed to the Taif Agreement, which was signed by the Lebanese deputies on 24 October 1989, which demenaded an immediate ceasefire. What ensued was a war with the Lebanese Armed Forces called the "Elimination War" by Samir Geagea, on 30 January 1990.
[edit] The Second Republic (1990–2005)
After Aoun surrendered on 13 October 1990 to the rival President, Elias Hrawi and his Syrian backers, Geagea was offered ministerial posts in the new government. He refused several times, however, he said that he was opposed to Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs, and his relationship with the new government deteriorated.
In 1994, Geagea was arrested on charges of setting a bomb in the church in Zouk, of instigating acts of violence, and of committing assassinations during the Lebanese Civil War. Although he was acquitted of the first charge, the Lebanese government ordered the dissolution of the LF. Geagea was subsequently arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment on several different counts, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Rashid Karami in 1987. He was incarcerated in solitary confinement, with his access to the outside world severely restricted. Geagea spent 11 years in a small room (1m * 1.8 m) with no sun-light on the 3rd level underground at the Ministry of Defense.
Human rights groups including Amnesty International decried the judicial process leading to his conviction as seriously flawed and politically motivated arguing the events gave the Syrian-controlled Lebanese government a pretext for jailing Geagea and banning an anti-Syrian party.
The LF was an active participant in the Cedar Revolution of 2005. In the subsequent parliamentary election held in May and June, the LF formed part of the Rafik Hariri Martyr List, a coalition led by Saad Hariri, which gained a majority in the Lebanese Parliament. Samir Geagea was freed on 18 July 2005, and after residing in France for a time with his wife (and MP), Sitrida, returned to Lebanon in October 2005 to become President of the Executive Committee of the Lebanese Forces.
The LF currently holds 5 out of the 128 seats (4%) in the Lebanese Parliament, and are represented in the Siniora governemnt, formed in July 2005, by the minister of Tourism Joseph Sarkis .
