Elie Hobeika

Elie Hobeika ( _ar. إيلي حبيقة) (1956 in Kleiat, Lebanon – 24 January, 2002) was a Phalangist and Lebanese Forces militia commander during the Lebanese Civil War. He later became a popular politician and government minister in the post-war period. He is best known for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which between 600-2500 Palestinian civilians were massacred by Hobeika's Maronite Lebanese Forces militia.

Early Years

Hobeika was born in Kleiat, Lebanon in 1956. He finished his schooling at 20 years of age, by which time he had already joined Lebanon's Kataeb party and by the start of the war he was a member of the militia of that organisation. The following year Hobeika became commander of the southern sector for the Phalange. During a lull in the fighting in 1975 Hobeika worked for Banco do Brasil, he later rejoined the militia. Later he was promoted to head of the third division of the Phalange in charge of special operations and in 1979 promoted to security chief of the Lebanese Forces (combined militias) as head of Intelligence.

The Tripartite Agreement

The Syrians still interfered in the parliamentary elections of 2000 in order to defeat Mr. Hobeika. As a result, many of their traditional allies, including Prime Minister Salim Al-Hoss were defeated at the polls.

He has been mentioned by the Israelis, for his alleged role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982 and for allegations that the atrocities were committed in collusion with Israeli military authorities occupying west Beirut in September 1982. Before his assassination Mr. Hobeika called a press conference. "I am in possession of evidence of my innocence concerning Sabra and Shatila. And I have evidence of what actually happened at Sabra and Shatila which will throw a completely new light on the Kahan commission report."

Lebanese Civil War

Over the next few years as support for the Lebanese Forces declined, and in 1984, Samir Geagea, Karim Pakradouni, and Elie Hobeika forced the resignation of the then commander of the Lebanese Forces, Fouad Abu Nadir. Fouad Abu Nadir was considered too close to Amine Gemayel (he was Gemayel's nephew). Amine, unlike his brother Bachir was disliked by all the LF leaders. Elie Hobeika was named head of the LF after Abou Nader's removal.

On January 15, 1986, Samir Geagea led a coup or "correction movement" within the LF that removed Elie Hobeika from Lebanese Forces command, mainly due to Hobeika signing the Tripartite Accord which was the work of Syrian occopation forces in Lebanon, with Nabih Berri and Walid Jumblatt. Hobeika was besieged in his Qarantina headquarters by Geagea's men (Elias Murr was trapped with Hobeika in the same building) and was evacuated by Michel Aoun after strong American pressures. Hobeika and his closest supporters fled to Paris. They returned to Lebanon as a pro-Secular and pro-Syrian LF faction and were stationed in Zahle. In 1990 Hobeika supported the parliamentary faction against Syria in the war initiated by Michel Aoun.

After the civil war ended in 1990 Hobeika became Minister for the Displaced. In October 1992 he was appointed Minister for Social Affairs and the Handicapped. He was reassigned to the Ministry of Electricity and Water in 1996, a period which saw massive power projects in Baddawi and Zahrani, Zouk And Baalbeck, and massive electrical grid installation and distribution throughout Lebanon, including the outlying areas still in turmoil with Israeli Forces in the south, hence the progress was too slow compared to the massive increase in the Megawatts needed, since little electricity projects were accomplished over 18 years of civil unrest, mainly because of the Israeli operation Grapes of Wrath. In 1998, General Émile Lahoud became president of Lebanon and appointed Selim Hoss Prime Minister.In 2000 Hobeika lost his parliament seat, due to Syrian active interference in the Polls against Hobeika . In June 2001, Chebli Mallat, a left-wing Maronite lawyer, filed a case against Ariel Sharon in Belgium under a law that permitted to sue foreigners for crimes against humanity.Just before his death, Elie Hobeika publicly declared his intention to testify against Ariel Sharon about his involvement in the Sabra and Shatila massacre in a Belgian court's trial for crimes against humanity. A Belgian senator, Josy Dubie, was quoted as saying that Hobeika had told him several days before his death that he had "revelations" to disclose about the massacres and felt "threatened". When Dubie had asked him why he did not reveal all the facts he knew immediately, Hobeika is reported to have said: "I am saving them for the trial". Lebanese Interior Minister Elias Murr has accused Israel of being behind the act, citing a trace on the license plates of the sedan. The case was later dropped as the Belgian law was amended.

Assassination

At 9:30 AM, January 24, 2002, Hobeika and several bodyguards left in his Land Rover to go to his office. As Hobeika's car slowed down beside a Mercedes, a 22-pound TNT bomb was detonated, killing him, his bodyguards and several innocent bystanders. Immediately after his murder, Elias Murr held a press conference and accused Israel of killing Hobeika due to his scheduled upcoming testimony in Belgium against then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Former Lebanese President Émile Lahoud also accused Israel of being involved.

There is much controversy about the murder of Elie Hobeika. Many Lebanese point the finger at Israel, while some point the finger at the Palestinians, Syria. Hobeika's death proves difficult to solve, and amid speculation of who killed him, there have been no arrests to this day.

Lebanese Forces - Executive Command (LFEC)

The Lebanese Forces - Uprising or LFU ("Al-Quwwat al-Lubnaniyya -Intifada") was a Zahle-based split-off of the LF led by Elie Hobeika, who sought refuge in the Syrian-controlled Beka’a valley with his supporters after being ousted from east Beirut in 1985. Renamed Lebanese Forces - Executive Command (LFEC) in 1986 and financed by Syria, it numbered some 1000 men, mostly Maronites, of which 300 operated in west Beirut. Regarded as a pro-Syrian proxy faction, Hobeika and its men conveyed little or no support at all from the Greek-Catholic citizens of Zahle, who preferred to lend their backing to the mainstream Lebanese Forces and later to Gen. Michel Aoun’s government instead. The LFEC became known for their violent behaviour and involvement in profitable criminal activities - Hobeika run from its Headquarters at the Qadiri Hotel in central Zahle an illegal international telecommunications’ center and a drug-trafficking network in the Beka’a. The group is also suspected of being behind the March-July 1986 car bomb campaign that rocked both west and east Beirut, allegedly carried out in collusion with the Syrian intelligence services. During the 1988-89 “Liberation War” they fought alongside Druze and Palestinian militias against the Auonist troops at the second battle of Souk el-Garb, and later assisted Syrian forces in capturing Gen. Auon’s HQ at Ba’abda in October 1990, reportedly committing atrocities and loothing. Although the LFEC was forced to disband shortly after the end of the war, many of its former members provided a cadre to the private security company set up and headed by Hobeika until his assassination at Beirut in January 2002.

References

* Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-92 O'Ballance Edgar (1998) (ISBN 0-312-21593-2)
* Faces of Lebanon: Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions (Princeton Series on the Middle East) Harris William W (1997) (ISBN 1-55876-115-2)
* Lebanon: A Shattered Country: Myths and Realities of the Wars in Lebanon, Revised Edition Picard, Elizabeth (2002) (ISBN 0-8419-1415-X)
* Lebanon: Fire and Embers : A History of the Lebanese Civil War by Hiro, Dilip (1993) (ISBN 0-312-09724-7)
* Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War Fisk, Robert (2001) (ISBN 0-19-280130-9)

External links

* [http://www.meib.org/articles/0201_l1.htm Middle East Intelligence Bureau on Elie Hobeika]
* [http://ddc.aub.edu.lb/projects/pspa/conflict-resolution.html The Tripartite Agreement]