BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese Christian ex-militia chief Samir Geagea will be released on Tuesday after 11 years in jail for crimes committed during the 1975-1990 civil war, officials said on Monday.

Geagea, anti-Syrian leader of the now-disbanded Lebanese Forces militia, was the only warlord jailed after the conflict, an anomaly resented by many in his Maronite Christian community.

Lebanon's newly elected parliament, now dominated by foes of Damascus, passed a bill granting him amnesty last week, setting off wild celebrations among his supporters.

Geagea, 52, was expected to head to the airport amid heavy security and leave the country for medical tests and recuperation in an undisclosed European capital, the officials said.

He has been serving several life sentences for political murders and other civil war killings and spent eight years in solitary confinement in a cell at the defence ministry.

He has always proclaimed his innocence, portraying himself as victimised for his staunch opposition to Syria.

Geagea's amnesty was backed by former Muslim and Christian civil war foes newly united against Syria and emboldened by the end of its 29-year military presence in Lebanon.

Syria withdrew its troops in April, under fierce Lebanese and world pressure following a Beirut car bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in April.

Geagea inspired devotion among his Christian followers during the civil war and loathing among his enemies.

Many Maronite Christians viewed his imprisonment and the 14-year exile of ex-general Michel Aoun as symbols of a Syrian desire to penalise and sideline their once-dominant community.

Aoun returned in May just ahead of Lebanon's first election after the Syrian withdrawal. His nominees and allies now form an opposition bloc of about 21 seats in the 128-member assembly.

Geagea, who fought bloody battles with Aoun's forces in the last stages of the civil war, was a hero to many Maronites, but regarded by many Muslims and some Christians as a dangerous Israeli-allied firebrand wedded to Maronite supremacy.

He has not said whether he now plans a political comeback. His wife Strida won a seat in parliament representing his northern hometown of Besharre, in the recent election, along with a handful of other Geagea loyalists. (Reuters)