BEIRUT - The amnesty law enabling the release of the Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea and almost three dozen Islamist detainees, signed by President Emile Lahoud Tuesday, has been published in the official gazette. Judicial sources said State Prosecutor Said Mirza, who received a copy of the General Amnesty Law on Thursday, has already authorized the release of Geagea's fellow inmates Brigadier General Khalil Matar and Gerges Khoury from the Defense Ministry's prison.

Matar was convicted on charges of involvement in the 1987 mid-air assassination of former Prime Minister Rashid Karami, whereas Khoury was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of involvement in the 1994 bombing of the Saydet al-Najat Church.

Meanwhile, LF MP Strida Geagea paid a visit to her husband at the Defense Ministry to inform him the law had been published, effectively making him a free man.

After her visit, Strida Geagea said: "No one can imagine what these moments mean to me. All the suffering our comrades have endured over the last 11 years and three months has not been in vain."

When asked if her husband was going to be released soon, "it is a matter of days," she said.

Information made available to the Central News Agency said Geagea will visit Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in Diman upon his release to thank him for his support during his time in incarceration.

According to Beirut's daily Al-Bairaq, legal formalities now the law has been officially published will take around 48 hours, making it likely Geagea will be freed on Saturday.

"Our main concern is my husband's security," Geagea stressed, saying her husband would speak to the Lebanese public through the media upon his release.

Moreover, LF MP George Adwan said, after visiting Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun, there would not be any confrontation between the FPM and the LF following Geagea's release. "We are over the painful past," he said, insisting he knew nothing of reports of hostile incidents between supporters of the two groups.

It was reported on Wednesday that cars parked at

Dikweneh Technical School carrying portraits of Aoun and his electoral ally former Minister Suleiman Franjieh had

been vandalized.

When asked if there was competition for the representation of Lebanon's Christian community, Adwan said he had never heard Aoun say he represented the Christians.

As for Geagea's release, Adwan denied rumors Geagea intended to leave prison in secret, stressing his release would be a public occasion.

He said Geagea would hold meetings with MPs and senior officials in the LF, but, due to security concerns, there would not be a public celebration.

However, despite the preparations for Geagea's pending release, an issue has emerged that might lead to his reimprisonment for a further six months.

Geagea was informed of a court ruling requiring he pay LL350 million in compensation to the Abu Dagher family, whose members were killed during an assassination attempt on MP Michel Murr in 1991, believed to have been carried out by Geagea.

The lawsuit was filed by Youssef Abu Dagher, whose son Samir, daughter-in-law, grand-daughter and Samir's mother-in-law were killed in the attack.

Judicial sources said the sentence does not hamper the release of Geagea, but if the sum is not settled, Geagea faces six-months in prison.

Meanwhile, the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat conducted the first news interview with the imprisoned LF leader since his incarceration in 1994.

In the interview, Geagea said dialogue should be the only way of solving problems between the Lebanese. "There is no sense going back to the past. Any rivalry in the future should take place using democratic means," he said. - Daily Star, with agencies.