Profile of President Michel Suleiman
Former Lebanese Army Commander

Date and Place of Birth: Born in Amshit, Jbeil, in 1948
Sect: Maronite.
Marital Status: Married to Wafaa Suleiman; three children.
Education: Joined Military Academy as student officer in 1976. Graduated from the Military Academy as 2nd Lieutenant in 1970. Holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political and Administrative Sciences from the Lebanese University.
Professional Background: Director of Military Intelligence (Moukhabarat) for Mount Lebanon (1990-1991). Army Staff Secretary-General (1991-1993); Commander of the 11th Infantry Brigade (1993-1996). Promoted to Brigadier (1996). Commander of the 6th Infantry Brigade (1996-1998). Promoted to Lieutenant General (1998). Appointed Commander of the Lebanese Army (1998).
Decorations, medals, awards and honors: -National Order of the Cedar, knight grade and grand cordon grade, -Lebanese Order of Merit, 3rd, 2nd and 1st grades, -Decoration of Military Pride, silver grade , Medal of War, Decoration of Military Valor, silver grade,  Decoration of the National-Unity, Decoration of the Dawn of the South, Syrian Order of Merit, Grade of Excellence, Certificate of Honor of the Arab Union, Decoration of Arab Union for Military Sports, 2nd degree, Military Medal, Internal Security forces’ Medal,  General Security Medal, State security Medal, Commemorative Medal of Conferences for the year 2002, Citations of the Armed Forces Commander (4 times), Felicitations of the Armed Forces Commander (18 times), Felicitations of the Brigade Commander (once).
Military training courses: - A training course in Belgium from January 7, 1971 to July 4, 1971, A training in Staff techniques in France from February 9, 1981 to July 17, 1981, A staff training course at the Command and Staff College starting June 1988 to September 1988,  An International Defense Management course in the United States from June 22,1995 to July 27, 1995.
Role as Army Commander: On December 21, 1998, he became the commander of the Lebanese army, where he was regarded as a strong leader. Notably, in the wake of the assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005, he refrained from deploying the army against either side of the standoff between the anti-Syrian majority and pro-Syrian opposition. However, some have had concerns that Sleiman’s neutrality may go too far, particularly after he refrained from mobilizing the army to control clashes that ravaged western Beirut and other parts of Lebanon in May 2008. In the summer of 2007, under Sleiman’s command, the Lebanese army fought a 15-week battle in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp against Fatah al-Islam, eventually clearing the militants from the camp. The army’s perseverance, dedication and sacrifices in the North led to a surge in popular support for the army.
Consensus President of Lebanon: On Sunday, May 25, 2008, Michel Sleiman was elected president of the Lebanese Republic. Sleiman is the first president to come into office since the 2005 Cedar Revolution and subsequent Syrian withdrawal from the country.
Quote: "The state exists because the army is the guardian of the structure of this state."

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