President Elias Hrawi

Introduction: As Hrawi's Zahle region was under Syrian control through most of the civil war, he developed good relations with Damascus. This came to be central both to his rise to success, which was aided by Syria, and the orientation of his politics through his nine years of presidency.

Hrawi was the man in the driver seat when Lebanon got its peace, from which he got many supporters. But his pro-Syrian politics also provoked many Lebanese nationalists.

POLITICAL PROFILE

1972: Elected member of Parliament.
1980: Appointed Minister for Public Works.
November 24, 1989 : Elected 10th President of the Republic of Lebanon. His first challenge was to confront General Michel Aoun, the "temporary" prime minister, who did not bow to his presidency. He also started working for closer ties between Syria and Lebanon.
August 1990 : Hrawi was central in securing support for the negotiations relating to the National Reconciliation Charter held in At Ta'if, as well as fighting General Aoun.
October 1990: In collaboration with the Syrian forces, Hrawi was able to defeat Aoun for good. This victory on October 13, 1990, marked the end of the Lebanese Civil War. This allowed him to create Greater Beirut, which should be totally under government control.
May 22, 1991: Signed with Syria the renowned 'Brotherly and Cooperation Treaty', giving Damascus much control over Lebanese politics.
1992: In the general elections, Hrawi's supporters won more seats, making his power more effective.
1995: Had his presidential term extended for 3 years, following an amendment of the Constitution.
1998: Stepped down as president, and was succeeded by Army Commander General Emile Lahoud.

PERSONAL PROFILE

Name: HRAWI (Elias, Khalil). President of the Republic from November 24, 1989 to November 23, 1998.
Born in 1926 in Hawsh el Omara, Zahlé (Bekaa valley). Son of Khalil Hrawi (landowner) and Hilene Harb.
Married to Mouna Jammal with 5 children, Rina, Georges, Roy, Zalfa and Roland.

Education:

- Secondary at “Collège de la Sagesse”, Beirut
- Degree in Commercial Sciences at “Sagesse Faculty” (now part of the St. Joseph University)

Career:

- Landowner and involved in agriculture and trade
- Member of the Municipality of Zahlé (1963)
- Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of the Bekaa Province (1967)
- Established the first agricultural cooperative for sugar beet producers (1970)
- President of the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives in Lebanon (1971)
- Pionner in the Agro-Alimentary industry for dried vegetables
- Elected Member of the Parliament in 1972
- President of the Parliamentary Agricultural Committee and Member of the Budget and Finance Committee
- Head of the Lebanese Delegation to FAO
- Minister of Public Works and Transport (1980-1982)

Medals and Decorations: Lebanese Order of Merit-Grade Extraordinary; Grand Cordon, National Order of the Cedars

Hobbies: Reading, oriental music

Demise

Former president Elias Hrawi, who oversaw Lebanon's emergence from a 1975-1990 civil war, died of cancer Friday in a Beirut hopital at the age of 80, hospital officials said.

The presidency declared a three-day period of mourning, running until Sunday.

During a time when Syria's influence was at its peak, Hrawi served as president from 1989 to 1998 before being succeeded by the current head of state Emile Lahoud.

A Maronite Christian from the eastern city of Zahle, Hrawi was an obscure MP before rising to the presidency with Syrian backing in 1989 following the assassination of his predecessor Rene Moawad after just two weeks in power.

French President Jacques Chirac said he had learned of Hrawi's death "with great emotion and sadness", in a handwritten letter to the former president's widow, Mouna Jamal, obtained by AFP.

"I salute the memory of a man who, after so many years of suffering, following the assassination of president Rene Moawad, devoted himself to the difficult task of bringing his country from war to peace," Chirac said.

Hrawi came to office following the 1989 Taef accord that put an end to Lebanon's civil war.

Hrawi oversaw the rebuilding of state institutions from the ruins of civil war and the launch a multi-billion-dollar reconstruction process later entrusted to five-time premier Rafiq Hariri, who himself was killed in a bomb blast in February 2005.

During his first year in office, he requested Syria's military intervention to put down an anti-Damascus revolt by Christian leader General Michel Aoun. In 1991, he oversaw the disarmament of most of Lebanon's war-time militias.

Syria intervened on the political front in 1995 to extend Hrawi's term by three years.

He was accused by critics of having put Lebanon under the total control of powerful Syria. It was under his tenure that on May 22, 1991 Lebanon and Syria signed a treaty of fraternity, cooperation and coordination.

Syria's almost three-decade-long military domination of Lebanon only drew to a close in April 2005, two months after the assassination of Hariri in which a UN investigation has implicated Syria.

Hrawi had five children from two marriages.