Lebanonwire.com | Lebanese exiled Christian politician heads home to savour Syrian departure

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May 4, 2005

Lebanese exiled Christian politician heads home to savour Syrian departure

by Hala Boncompagni

BEIRUT - Lebanon's exiled Christian opposition leader and Syria's arch-foe Michel Aoun is preparing a hero's homecoming this week, eyeing a new political role after the departure of Syrian troops from the country.

A soldier turned politician, Aoun, 70, was booted out of Lebanon in 1990 by the Syrian army, which he had bitterly fought but failed to crush, and forced into 15 years of exile in France.

His fortunes changed dramatically on April 26 of this year when the last Syrian troops quit Lebanon.

A balding, no-nonsense army general and former prime minister, Aoun was one of the first Lebanese voices to arise against Syria military presence in Lebanon during the harrowing days of the 1975-1990 civil war.

He commanded army units that clashed with Syrian troops, fought bitter battles against pro-Syrian Lebanese Druze militias and even challenged the rule of the once-powerful Lebanese Forces Christian combatants.

In the unruly days of the civil war, Aoun, like a knight on a white horse, charged single-handedly to retake Lebanon for the Lebanese and impose law and order in the battered country.

Elie Salem, a former Lebanese foreign minister, once described him as a "David to an infinite Goliath" and said this won Aoun the hearts of Christians and Muslims alike.

Today his supporters among Lebanon's large Christian minority agree, even comparing him to Charles de Gaulle returning to a liberated France in 1945 after the last German soldier marched out.

"General Aoun is our liberator. This is the grandest title anyone can have.

He worked unrelentlessly to rid us of Syrian occupation during his exile," Caesar Abi Khalil, a staunch Aoun supporter, told AFP. His critics who resent his airs of grandeur and populism call him "Napolaoun".

Aoun was born to a poor family in Haret Hreik, a working-class suburb home to both Christians and Muslims, and had to quit school for one year for financial reasons.

He eventually enrolled in the military academy, graduating as an artillery officer, and received further training in France and the United States.

In 1984, then president Amin Gemayel named him commander-in-chief of the armed forces, making Aoun the youngest officer to head the army.

Four years later Aoun was propelled onto the political scene when Gemayel, 10 minutes before the end of his presidential mandate, appointed the general head of a transitional government tasked with preparing elections.

In 1989, Aoun declared war on Syria with the support of France and Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, who supplied him with arms.

The battle dubbed "war of national liberation" lasted six months and proved to be one of the bloodiest of Lebanon's history.

It culminated in a meeting of Lebanese politicians in the Saudi city of Taif where an agreement was reached paving the way for the 1990 end of the civil war. It also provided a legal basis for Syria's military presence in Lebanon, with the blessing of the United States and France.

Aoun rejected the Taif accord, refused to accept the election of Lebanese president Elias Hrawi and remained defiantly entrenched in the presidential palace.

His action won the hearts of thousands of Lebanese people from all factions and religious communities.

In December 1989 hundreds of thousands rallied to form a human shield around the fortified palace as the Syrian army prepared to attack the compound to force Aoun out.

Aoun surrendered in 1990 after a brutal Syrian air and ground attack against areas under his control and sought political asylum in the French embassy in Beirut. 10 months later he flew to France to start his exile.

Aoun's return is planned for Saturday, less than two weeks after the Syrian army pulled out of Lebanon under international pressure, ending a 29-year military domination of its small neighbour, and ahead of legislative elections.

"It will be a historic day. It marks a return to sovereignty, independence and freedom in Lebanon. I return as a civilian, a politician," Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, told AFP last month.