BEIRUT, Lebanon - Now rid of Syrian tutelage, Lebanon's politicians united to release Christian warlord Samir Geagea from jail, but there is no guarantee his return will cool religious tensions still simmering 15 years after the civil war.

Adored by Maronite Christian followers as defender of their faith and reviled by his foes as a ruthless killer, the leader of the Lebanese Forces (LF), the most powerful Christian militia during the 1975-1990 conflict, remains a divisive figure.

While other warlords climbed the political ladder under a postwar amnesty that cleared their bloody records, Geagea, now 52, was locked in a subterranean cell for 11 years -- the only militia chief to pay a judicial price for his crimes in the war that divided Lebanon into Muslim and Christian enclaves.

Newly united against Syria and emboldened by the end of its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April, over 100 members of the 128-seat parliament overcame their differences and voted for Geagea's release as a step toward national reconciliation.

Geagea's first speech as a free man on Tuesday seemed calculated for maximum appeal and minimum offence. He thanked a host of erstwhile enemies, but did not mention Syria by name or bring up the political murders for which he was jailed in 1994.

He said times had changed and vowed to work with others to solve Lebanon's woes. For some, however, old wounds remain raw.

"Congratulations to Samir Geagea on this victory ... that has given him attributes he could not have dreamed of, going beyond heroism to sainthood, to a place in the Lebanese political club," wrote Talal Salman, owner of the left-leaning As-Safir newspaper in a searing front-page editorial.

"But the Lebanese were hoping he would grow with their pardon to rise above himself, no matter how bitter, and utter a word of apology to his victims."

Ally for Isreal

Geagea has always proclaimed his innocence, saying he was a political prisoner victimised for his opposition to Syria.

But Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah, a pro-Syrian guerrilla group that helped end Israel's occupation in the south, cannot forget his past alliance with its arch-enemy. Its deputies walked out of parliament before last week's vote on the amnesty law.

Many Maronites say Geagea's imprisonment and the exile of Maronite general Michel Aoun symbolised their community's loss of standing in the postwar political order imposed by Syria.

But with Aoun back and leading a bloc in parliament, some Maronites hope Geagea's voice will also strengthen their cause.

Hailing from the mountains of northern Lebanon, where the first Maronite monks took refuge more than 1,000 years ago, Geagea painted himself in the past as a man of faith on a mission to protect his community in a largely Muslim region.

Strongly opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon, Geagea only agreed to the 1989 Taif Accord which ended the civil war after Aoun launched an offensive to crush his militia in 1990.

Aoun has since reconciled with Geagea, even though he is now the general's only serious rival for Maronite leadership.

Isolated from the world for much of the postwar era, it is not clear whether jail has mellowed Geagea's hardline views.

"It appears Geagea is quite aware that politics in Lebanon has changed and has modified some of his earlier ideas, moving beyond his vision of a federal system in which each sect would run its own affairs," said political scientist Sami Baroudi.

"His return could exert a calming influence on the Maronite youth, who have felt marginalised over the years."

Yet some Lebanese, Muslim and Christian, see his LF as a pack of far-right youths and fear a return to communal violence.

Geagea became notorious in 1978 when he led an attack on the mountain home of Tony Franjieh, a rival Maronite chieftain. Franjieh, his daughter, wife and several bodyguards were killed.

Geagea was first charged with a 1994 church bombing in which 11 people died, but was acquitted. He was then convicted of the 1990 murder of Christian leader Dany Chamoun, his wife and two children and the 1987 killing of Prime Minister Rashid Karami.

Omar Karami, brother of the slain premier who later occupied the same post, said after the amnesty was passed: "Samir Geagea is the killer of Rashid Karami as investigations have proven ... and this pardon does not change that historical fact." (Reuters)