Country Advice Lebanon Lebanon – LBN37789 – Lebanese Forces
political party – Confessional system 1 December 2010
1. Please send some general information on the Lebanese Forces political party, including who were their leaders and/or important milestones since 1994. Please include any information you feel may be useful.
Background
The Lebanese Forces political party formed as a mainly Maronite Christian military coalition during the civil war between Christian, Muslim and Druze militias between 1975 and 1990. The Lebanese Forces was one of the strongest parties to the conflict, during which time it controlled mainly-Christian East Beirut and areas north of the capital. In 1982, during the civil war, a key figure in the Lebanese Forces, Bashir Gemayel, who was the then President of Lebanon, was killed. The Lebanese Forces was regularly accused of politically-motivated killings and arrests and other serious human rights abuses before the war ended in 1990, although other factions in the conflict were accused of similar abuses. The Phalangists, the largest militia in the Lebanese Forces, massacred hundreds of civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in 1982. The anti-Syrian Lebanese Forces was banned in 1994, but remained influential among the 800,000-strong Maronite Christian community that dominated Lebanon before the war.1 While the Lebanese Forces has perpetrated human rights abuses, a 2004 Amnesty International report stated that “Samir Gea'gea and Jirjis al-Khouri, like scores of other LF members, may have been victims of human rights violations committed in a climate of political repression and intimidation”.2
Since the Ta‟if Accord of 1989 the Lebanese Forces has dismantled its militia and one strand of the group became a political party with a significant opposition to Syrian power in Lebanon and a Lebanese nationalist stance.3 The banning of the Lebanese Forces was lifted in 2005 and it has become a legitimate part of the Lebanese electoral landscape, holding eight seats in the national Parliament and being part of the governing March 14 Alliance, it also holds seats in municipal governments. In the current alliance in
1 The US Citizenship and Immigration Services, INS Resource Information Center, Resources Information Centre 2002, Lebanon: Information on Lebanese Forces Militia, LBN03002.NYC, 6 November http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=829c53bc46 d8d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=d2d1e89390b5d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD – Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 1. 2 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Lebanon: Update to LBN39595.E of 18 July 2002 on the treatment of members and supporters of the Lebanese Forces (LF) by the Lebanese and Syrian authorities and by the Hezbollah (19 July 2002-February 2005) , 8 March 2005, LBN43422.FE – Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 2. 3 „Introduction‟ 2009, The Lebanese Forces Official Website website, 14 November http://www.lebanese-forces.org/lfintroduction/index.shtml Accessed 25 November 2010 – Attachment 3.
Page 1 of 11 government it is in coalition with groups who may be pro-Syrian. The Lebanese Forces official website also states that it has a strong influence in educational organisations and unions, enjoying: a strong presence and a wide area of influence on the educational level within student organizations in universities and schools and also within many labor unions representing doctors, lawyers and engineers to mention a few.4
The principles of the Lebanese Forces, outlined on its website, are said to have formed in 1986: on the march of rebuilding, reform and modernization... The "Lebanese Forces" became the institution holding a historical political proposition for the Lebanese Christian community aiming at: Ensuring a sovereign, free, and secure Lebanon for all its citizens equally. Establishing a system of government whereas the superstructure (the government) is congruent with the infrastructure (the society) resulting in a fair, true and balanced political participation. Promoting a political system built on three basic principles: diversity, freedom to foster development and democracy representative of the diversity that exists in the Lebanese Society. Halting support to any ideology or movement that works directly or indirectly to joining Lebanon to another country. Adopting a neutral foreign policy to provide for internal security and to allow for freedom to build foreign international relations.
The website also presents principles that were espoused in 1989, namely: safeguarding Lebanon‟s independence, sovereignty and distinct identity within its internationally recognized borders; founding the Lebanese Government on the basic principles of human rights; and establishing a democratic system whereas freedom and Human Rights of every citizen are protected and guaranteed. That both sets of principles still appear on the official website suggests that the principles continue to inform the stance of the party.
Leaders of the Lebanese Forces have included: Bachir Gemayel (1978-1982), Fadi Frem (1982-1984), Fouad Abou Nader (1984-1985), Elie Hobeika (1985-1986) and Samir Geagea (1986- ). The Lebanese Forces have representatives in the national government and in several municipal governments. Of the aforementioned leaders, the Lebanese Forces official website identifies its major leaders as Bachir Gemayel and Samir Geagea.5
There is a clear geographic separation of Christian and Muslim communities in Lebanon and the Lebanese Forces political party is associated with the areas where the Christian community is found. A February 2007 report from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada cited an academic at Balmand University in Lebanon who stated that the geographical separation of Christians and Muslims in Lebanon was “clear-cut, and that the majority of Christians in Lebanon live in areas where there are very few Muslims”. The professor specified that “the area from East Beirut up the coast to the southern suburbs of Tripoli, and from the coast to the Mount Lebanon range between these areas, as almost
4 „Introduction‟ 2009, The Lebanese Forces Official Website website, 14 November http://www.lebanese-forces.org/lfintroduction/index.shtml Accessed 25 November 2010 – Attachment 3. 5 Introduction‟ 2009, The Lebanese Forces Official Website website, 14 November http://www.lebanese-forces.org/lfintroduction/index.shtml Accessed 25 November 2010 – Attachment 3.
Page 2 of 11 exclusively Christian areas”.6 The Christian area of Lebanon includes the Al Koura, Becharre district. Becharra and Koura are noted as centres historically associated with Maronite and Orthodox Christianity. The attached map shows the distribution of religious groupings over Lebanon.7
During the 2009 national election, the Christian Maronite electorates in the north of Lebanon were divided between several parties, of which the Lebanese Forces was one. The other parties were the Free Patriotic Movement, El Marada and Kataeb. During the election is was unclear whether the Christian Maronite electorate would repeat its 2005 choice of following Michel Aoun of the Free Patriotic Movement (a member of the March 8 alliance) or support the March 14 Alliance Christian parties (mainly Kateab and Lebanese Forces). The Lebanese Forces and Kataeb claimed that Aoun‟s popularity had decreased as a result of an agreement with Hezbollah. Although the precise breakdown is contested, the Christian Maronites voted primarily for the Christian parties in the March 14 Alliance.8
The Lebanese Forces official website states that in 1990 when it changed from a resistance militia to a political resistance, it had 30,000 members, not including their families.9 No more recent information on formal membership could be located.
The religious demographic of the country is changing and this has an effect on electoral politics. Until recently the proportion of the Lebanese population that was Christian was about 39%; today it is around 34% while the Muslim population has grown.10 Under the Lebanese electoral system electoral representation is confessional; that is, representation is related to the proportion of the population of the various religions: Muslim, Christian, Druze. The position of President of Lebanon is reserved for a Christian.
The Lebanese confessional electoral system currently ties confession to particular seats and districts. Candidates must be of the same confession as the seat and district and voters register in their place of origin (married women are registered in the same place as their husbands). The seats within each constituency are allocated according to a majority system. Each voter is entitled to vote for a number of candidates that equals the number of seats allocated to every district, based on its confessional distribution.11 The agreements that underpin the confessional political system in Lebanon specify the 18 confessional groups to be represented; the Lebanese Forces is one of these.
6 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2007, Lebanon: Treatment of Christians, particularly Maronites; the availability of state protection (2006), 19 February LBN102320.E - Accessed 29 November 2010 – Attachment 4. 7 „Lebanon Support (June 2008), Mapping of Vulnerabilities in Lebanon (SE-1) (Deprivation Indicators, 1996)‟ 2008, Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection, The University of Texas at Austin - http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/luFullMap/00BD785A71C24C8885257474007067B1/$File/ls_SE C_lbn080626.pdf - Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 6. 8 European Union, Electoral Observation Mission 2009, Lebanon – Final Report, Parliamentary Elections 2009, 7 June, http://eueom-lebanon.org/en/files/doc/1253861855_Rapport%20final%20EN%20OK.pdf – Accessed 29 November 2010 – Attachment 5. 9 „Introduction‟ 2009, The Lebanese Forces Official Website website, 14 November http://www.lebanese-forces.org/lfintroduction/index.shtml Accessed 25 November 2010 – Attachment 3. 10 U.S. Department of State 2010, „Background Note: Lebanon‟, 25 October http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35833.htm - Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 7. 11 Lebanon, Official Gazette No. 41, Parliamentary Elections Law No. 25, 09/10/2008 http://www.pogar.org/publications/other/laws/elections/electionlaw-leb-08-e.pdf - Accessed 29 November 2010 – Attachment 8; European Union, Electoral Observation Mission 2009, Lebanon – Final Report, Parliamentary Elections 2009, 7 June, http://eueom-lebanon.org/en/files/doc/1253861855_Rapport%20final%20EN%20OK.pdf – Accessed 29 November 2010 – Attachment 5.
Page 3 of 11 Christians, having equal representation with Muslims, are now provided with more seats in the government than allowed by their proportion of the population. Although secularism, as espoused in the Ta‟if Accord, may be an aim, the shifting reduction in the proportion of the Lebanese population that is Christian is causing pressure. In 2009 the decreasing Christian proportion has coincided with the “Islamisation” of the Lebanese population which has caused the Christian population to seek migration.12 The Lebanese Forces official website has a link to an article on federalism that proposes territorial division in terms of previous Muslim treatment of Christians.13 The pressure from the radicalisation of the Muslim population with development of Sunni and Shia populations has been said to place pressure on the Christian population, splitting them into „sparring factions‟ backing Sunni and Shia Muslims respectively.14
There is rivalry between Christian sects Al Morada and Lebanese Forces in the North Lebanon area. The principles of Al Marada are in “defence of Lebanon's unity, sovereignty, independence, freedom of decision and conformation of its belonging to the Arab environment”.15 In February 2009, before the national elections, the offices of Lebanese Forces were bombed.16 In May 2010 Leader of Al Marada, MP Sleiman Franjieh, accused the leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea of killing two Al Marada supports in the vicinity of Koura.17 Samir Geagea stated that the two had entered a shop looking for a fight and they were shot in self-defence, but, as a result, there were brawls and a heavy army presence for voting in the 2010 municipal elections in the district of Koura.18
Milestones
Accounts of when the Lebanese Forces was established vary. At different points the history of the Lebanese forces has been tied to the histories of the Christian Phalange (Kataeb) to being founded by Bachir Gemayel and as coming from the Ta‟if Accord. The origins of the Lebanese Forces as a political party is said to stem from the banning of the Lebanese Forces coalition as a militia on 23 March 1994. The banning followed the civil war (1975-1990) during which Lebanese Forces conducted massacres at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps and coincided with the period of Syrian occupation. The ban was lifted in 2005 with an internationally negotiated agreement that included an apology from the Lebanese Forces for its conduct during the civil war, an amnesty for its conduct during the civil war and the release from prison of its leader, Samir Geagea.
12 Ensor, Josie 2009, LEBANON: Christians tempted to emigrate as Lebanon grows increasingly 'Islamized', Daily Star, The (Lebanon), 28 September – Attachment 9. 13 Smyth, Phillip 2009, Lebanese Federalism and Decentralization: Its Proponents and Discontents, The Lebanese Forces Official Website website, 30 November http://www.lebanese- forces.org/articles/Lebanese_Federalism_and_Decentralization_Its_Proponents_and_Discontents1003738.shtml - Accessed 25 November 2010 – Attachment 3. 14 The Economist 2010, Lebanon and the region - Can there be justice as well as stability? 11 November, pp.27-8 http://www.economist.com/node/17463379 - Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 11. 15 The Marada News 2010, „About El Marada‟, http://marada-news.org/?q=about – Accessed 24 November 2010 – Attachment 12 16 Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) 2009, LEBANON: Christian leader calls for calm after grenade attacks 20 February - Accessed 1 December 2010 – Attachment 13. 17 Franjieh accused of inciting greater division among Lebanese 2010, Ya Libnan 29 May http://www.yalibnan.com/2010/05/29/franjieh-accused-of-inciting-greater-division-among-lebanese/ - Accessed 25 November 2010 – Attachment 14. 18 Mroueh, Wassim and Mahdawi, Dalila 2010, Brawls break out at several polling stations in north, The Daily Star, 31 May http://engagelebanon.org/en/node/358 - Accessed 1 November 2010 – Attachment 15.
Page 4 of 11 The dense activity of Lebanese politics may be measured by milestones according to two identified political courses (excepting international military movements). The first is the development of the electoral system and the second is the progress of the Special Tribunal on Lebanon. The current electoral process was codified after negotiations that led to the Ta‟if Accord.19 The „confessional‟ (religious based) electoral system, progress towards secularisation and internal disarmament and demobilization may be seen in regard to the Ta‟if Accord. The Ta‟if Accord was negotiated by the Arab League in October 1989. It addressed the confessional power-sharing electoral system. It raised the number of seats in the National Assembly to 128 and the number of seats allocated to each religious grouping changed so that Christians and Muslims had an equal allocation of seats (after the previous allocation of 6:5). The Accord also tied Lebanon to a relationship with Syria. Further changes were made to the electoral system by the November 2006 Doha Agreement, which maintained the Ta‟if Accord‟s division of seats equally between Christians and Muslims and created 26 electoral districts.20
The abolition of political sectarianism was a fundamental of the Ta‟if Accord, with equal sharing by Christians and Muslims in the Chamber of Deputies one means towards achieving this goal. A national council was to be formed to examine and propose the means capable of abolishing sectarianism, to present such means to the government and to observe implementation of a phased plan. In the interim, sectarian representation was to be abolished as was any sectarian consideration in public service appointments, the judiciary, the military, security, public, and joint institutions, and in the independent agencies (top-level jobs and equivalent jobs are to be shared equally by Christians and Muslims without allocating any particular job to any sect). The mention of sect and denomination on the identity card was to be abolished. The Lebanese Forces official website indicates that it supports the Ta‟if Accord, shedding its militia in favour of the Ta‟if Accord in 1989, but it opposes Syrian influence in Lebanon.21
In March 2008 UNHCR reported that the confessional political system “continued to act as a catalyst for tension amongst various groups” with division between the pro-Syrian and pro-western groups creating divisions within minority communities. Maronite Christians were split along these lines, some then following Michel Aoun, then supporting Syria and Hezbolla, while “prominent anti-Syrian Maronite Christians have faced the threat of political assassination”.22
The second major issue that may be identified as affecting the Lebanese Forces is the movement for rule of law over violence as seen in the Special Tribunal on Lebanon (STL). A Chatham House report on the STL identified the power-sharing among confessional minorities within the Lebanese electoral system as resulting in a weak state that requires international protection. In addressing the STL as seeking the rule of law
19 „The Ta‟if Accord‟ 1989, www.al-bab.com website http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/lebanon/taif.htm - Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 16. 20 „The Doha Agreement‟ 2008, Lebanese Dialogue Conference in Doha, Qatar, Lebanon Now website, May 21 http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=44023 – Accessed 1 December 2010 – Attachment 17 21 „Introduction‟ 2009, The Lebanese Forces Official Website website, 14 November http://www.lebanese- forces.org/lfintroduction/index.shtml Accessed 25 November 2010 – Attachment 3. 22 Minority Rights Group International 2008, State of the World's Minorities 2008 - Lebanon, 11 March http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,MRGI,,LBN,48a7eaf0c,0.html – Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 18.
Page 5 of 11 over violence, the report refers to the “forgive and forget” formula of conflict resolution.23 The STL was established under United Nations auspices through Security Council resolution 1757 (2007) to find “the truth” of the assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on 14 February 2005.24
Assassinations and explosions have marked the normal political history of Lebanon since the time of the civil war. The BBC News Timeline: Lebanon provides information on the following assassinations. It is notable that several names associated with the Lebanese Forces are on this list; others were Maronite Christian, Christian or were not pro-Syria (Rafik Harari does not fit into these categories but was a prominent figure). September 1982 – Bachir Gemayel, President-elect (key figure in Lebanese Forces) November 1989 – Rene Moawad (moderate Maronite Christian) January 2002 – Elie Hobeika (former leader of Lebanese Forces) February 2005 – Rafik Harari, Prime Minister June 2005 – Samir Qasir, prominent journalist, critical of Syrian influence June 2005 – George Hawi, former Lebanese Communist Party leader, anti-Syrian December 2005 – Gibran Tueni, anti-Syrian, MP, journalist June 2007 – Walid Eido, MP, anti-Syrian December 2007 – Francois al-Hajj, military General (fought against Syria and the Lebanese forces during the civil war).25
Sixty-one people were killed and 494 injured in bombings and assassinations from 2004 to 2008.26
In addition to the above, violence against prominent Maronite Christians has been recorded throughout the early to mid-2000s. For example, the abovementioned Chatham House report referred to the assassination of Maronite Christian Pierre Gemayel, Minister for Industry, on 21 November 2006; the attempted assassination of Elias Murr, Minister of Defence, on 12 July 2005 (son-in-law of former President and Maronite Christian Émile Lahoud); and the attempted assassination of (Maronite Christian) May Chidiac, television presenter, on 25 September 2005.27
While members of the Lebanese Forces and prominent Maronite Christians have been the targets of violence, the Lebanese Forces has also been implicated in violence against others. Previous research response LBN31266 addressed the assassination of Dany Chamoun, National Party (NLP) leader in June 1995 for which the Justice Council
23 Shehadi, Nadim and Wilmhurst, Elizabeth 2007, The Special Tribunal for Lebanon: the UN on Trial?‟ Middle East/International Law Briefing Paper MEP/IL BP 07/01, July http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/9408_bp0707lebanon.pdf Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 19. 24 RRT Country Research 2008, Research Response, LBN33809, 2 October – Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 20. 25 BBC News 2010, „Timeline: Lebanon - A chronology of key events‟ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/819200.stm - Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 21. 26 The Economist 2010, Lebanon and the region - Can there be justice as well as stability? 11 November, pp.27-8 http://www.economist.com/node/17463379 - Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 11 27 Shehadi, Nadim and Wilmhurst, Elizabeth 2007, The Special Tribunal for Lebanon: the UN on Trial?‟ Middle East/International Law Briefing Paper MEP/IL BP 07/01, July http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/9408_bp0707lebanon.pdf Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 19
Page 6 of 11 sentenced Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to death (commuted to life imprisonment). Samir Geagea subsequently received amnesty on this charge.28
Following the November 2006 assassination of the Minister of Industry, Pierre Gemayel, (who was killed as an anti-Syrian figure), relations between Christian groups became tense with daily violence occurring between supporters of the Lebanese Forces and its rival Christian organisations, particularly the Free Patriotic Movement including scuffles, fistfights, stone throwing, street clashes and several killings. These events are detailed in RRT Research Response LBN31266 of 24 January 2007.29 The response covers events involving Lebanese Forces, pro-Syrian groups, the Free Patriotic Movement (led by Michael Aoun) and Hezbollah.
A Canadian IRB report on the treatment of members and supporters of the Lebanese Forces indicates that it was a group of interest to the Lebanese and Syrian authorities and for Hezbollah between the period 2002 and 2005, when Lebanese Forces leaders and member were subject to arrest, abduction and killing.30 In particular notable Lebanese Forces associates Elie Hobeqa, Ramzi Irani, Pierre Boulos were killed; Sam Geagea and members were arrested and interrogated by government forces in a government operation in 2003.31
In 2001 there was a crackdown on the Christian right that targeted supporters of the Lebanese Forces, which is detailed in RRT Research Response LBN15443 of 2 October 2002.32
Current Conditions
In 2007 DFAT stated that membership of the Lebanese Forces was no longer banned and that members could “congregate openly, display their flag on t-shirts, houses and vehicles and participate in Parliament”. It said, however, that the political climate in Lebanon was “volatile and tense” with some members of the opposition grouping vehemently opposed to the policies of the Government coalition, which included the Lebanese Forces. DFAT stated that while it was “not aware of a campaign by any group to target LF members, targeting of individual LF members cannot be ruled out”.33
The BBC has reported on on-going tension over the possible outcome of the STL. In September 2010 the BBC reported that the STL was an explosive issue which “raised political tensions high enough to provoke fears of sectarian violence and the collapse of
28 RRT Research Response 2007, LBN31266, 24 January - Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 22. 29 RRT Research Response 2007, LBN31266, 24 January - Attachment 22. 30 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Lebanon: Update to LBN39595.E of 18 July 2002 on the treatment of members and supporters of the Lebanese Forces (LF) by the Lebanese and Syrian authorities and by the Hezbollah (19 July 2002-February 2005) , 8 March 2005, LBN43422.FE - Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 2. 31 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Lebanon: Update to LBN39595.E of 18 July 2002 on the treatment of members and supporters of the Lebanese Forces (LF) by the Lebanese and Syrian authorities and by the Hezbollah (19 July 2002-February 2005) , 8 March 2005, LBN43422.FE - Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 2. 32 RRT Country Research 2002, Research Response, LBN15443, 2 October – Attachment 23. 33 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2007, DFAT Report No. 648, RRT Information Request; LBN31756, 30 May - Attachment26.
Page 7 of 11 the government”.34 In November 2010 the BBC further noted that the issue dominates the political arena with the country's national unity cabinet unable to meet because of it.35
Domestic politics in Lebanon continues to be related to some extent to the international politics affecting the country and there are a number of peace dialogues continuing. On 18 October 2010, the UN Security Council reported on on-going efforts to extend government control over all Lebanese territory, disband and disarm all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias in Lebanon and bring all weapons under government control.36 The UN Security Council report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006), of 11 November 2010, referred to progress towards maintaining domestic stability in Lebanon through local and municipal consultation, disarming of groups within Lebanon as part of the national defence strategy and national negotiations towards the implementation of the Ta‟if Accord and national defence strategy.37 The report referred to the effect of “operational activity” on the daily lives of residents, on local activity such as throwing stones, and of the political negotiation towards disarming all local armed groups and bringing all arms under the control of the state through a Lebanese-led political process. The report referred to the role of the governments of Syria and Saudi Arabia in supporting the Lebanese government and to Future Movement and Hezbollah as being the two groups that have not submitted proposals for a national defence strategy into the national negotiation.
The US Department of State‟s note on the political conditions in Lebanon in 2010 referred to the shift in the confessional system of government and to the further split of religious groupings into parties of varying politics. The Christian parties are given as: the Kataeb (Phalange), National Bloc, National Liberal Party, Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). Besides the Christian bloc, the Islamic Sunni (Amal and Hezbollah) and Shia are named, as are Druze parties. Reference is made to the lack of interaction between religious groupings. The report referred to the role of personalities and to powerful families and to “a very high degree of political activism among religious leaders across the sectarian spectrum”. Two political conditions in 2010 were: differences according to the role of religion in state affairs and the related question of administrative decentralisation with separate Muslim and Christian sectors operating within the framework of a confederation.
The abovementioned US Department of State report states that the “the trajectory of the Ta'if Accord points towards a non-confessional system, but there has been no real movement in this direction in the decade and a half since Ta'if, though in the past few years, there have been murmurings to change the agreement”.38
34 Muir, Jim 2010, „Deep divisions haunt Lebanese politics‟, BBC News, 22 September http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11392034 - Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 27. 35 Muir, Jim 2010, Lebanon tense as fingers point over Hariri killing, BBC News, 25 November http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11837816 - Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 28. 36 United Nations Security Council 2010, „Twelfth semi-annual report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004)‟, 18 October http://daccess-dds- ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N10/590/20/PDF/N1059020.pdf?OpenElement – Accessed 30 November 2010 – Attachment 29 37 UN Security Council, Fourteenth report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), 11 November 2010 S/2010/565, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/category,COI,,,LBN,4cdbfe502,0.html – Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 30 38 U.S. Department of State 2010, „Background Note: Lebanon‟, 25 October http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35833.htm - Accessed 26 November 2010 – Attachment 7.
Page 8 of 11 Attachments 1. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services, INS Resource Information Center, Resources Information Centre 2002, Lebanon: Information on Lebanese Forces Militia, LBN03002.NYC, 6 November http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/ ?vgnextoid=829c53bc46d8d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=d2d 1e89390b5d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD – Accessed 26 November 2010.
2. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Lebanon: Update to LBN39595.E of 18 July 2002 on the treatment of members and supporters of the Lebanese Forces (LF) by the Lebanese and Syrian authorities and by the Hezbollah (19 July 2002-February 2005), 8 March 2005, LBN43422.FE – Accessed 26 November 2010.
3. „Introduction‟ 2009, The Lebanese Forces Official Website website, 14 November http://www.lebanese-forces.org/lfintroduction/index.shtml - Accessed 25 November 2010.
4. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2007, Lebanon: Treatment of Christians, particularly Maronites; the availability of state protection (2006), 19 February LBN102320.E http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,LBN,4562d8cf2,469cd6ba15,0.html - Accessed 29 November 2010.
5. European Union, Electoral Observation Mission 2009, Lebanon – Final Report, Parliamentary Elections 2009, 7 June, http://eueom- lebanon.org/en/files/doc/1253861855_Rapport%20final%20EN%20OK.pdf – Accessed 29 November 2010.
6. „Lebanon Support (June 2008), Mapping of Vulnerabilities in Lebanon (SE-1) (Deprivation Indicators, 1996)‟ 2008, Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection, The University of Texas at Austin - http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/luFullMap/00BD785A71C24C888525747 4007067B1/$File/ls_SEC_lbn080626.pdf - Accessed 26 November 2010.
7. U.S. Department of State 2010, „Background Note: Lebanon‟, 25 October http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35833.htm - Accessed 26 November 2010.
8. Lebanon, Official Gazette No. 41, Parliamentary Elections Law No. 25, 09/10/2008 http://www.pogar.org/publications/other/laws/elections/electionlaw-leb-08-e.pdf - Accessed 29 November 2010.
9. Ensor, Josie 2009, „LEBANON: Christians tempted to emigrate as Lebanon grows increasingly “Islamized”‟, Daily Star, The (Lebanon), 28 September. (CISNET: Lebanon CX234256)
10. Smyth, Phillip 2009, Lebanese Federalism and Decentralization: Its Proponents and Discontents, The Lebanese Forces Official Website website, 30 November http://www.lebanese-
Page 9 of 11 forces.org/articles/Lebanese_Federalism_and_Decentralization_Its_Proponents_and_Di scontents1003738.shtml - Accessed 25 November 2010.
11. The Economist 2010, Lebanon and the region - Can there be justice as well as stability? 11 November, pp.27-8 http://www.economist.com/node/17463379 - Accessed 30 November 2010.
12. The Marada News 2010, „About El Marada‟, http://marada-news.org/?q=about – Accessed 24 November 2010.
13. Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) 2009, LEBANON: Christian leader calls for calm after grenade attacks 20 February - Accessed 1 December 2010. (CISNET: LEBANON CX224961)
14. Franjieh accused of inciting greater division among Lebanese 2010, Ya Libnan 29 May http://www.yalibnan.com/2010/05/29/franjieh-accused-of-inciting-greater- division-among-lebanese/ - Accessed 25 November 2010.
15. Mroueh, Wassim and Mahdawi, Dalila 2010, Brawls break out at several polling stations in north, The Daily Star, 31 May http://engagelebanon.org/en/node/358 - Accessed 1 November 2010.
16. „The Ta‟if Accord‟ 1989, www.al-bab.com website http://www.al- bab.com/arab/docs/lebanon/taif.htm - Accessed 30 November 2010.
17. „The Doha Agreement‟ 2008, Lebanese Dialogue Conference in Doha, Qatar, Lebanon Now website, May 21 http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=44023 – Accessed 1 December 2010.
18. Minority Rights Group International 2008, State of the World's Minorities 2008 - Lebanon, 11 March http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/publisher,MRGI,,LBN,48a7eaf0c,0.html – Accessed 30 November 2010.
19. Shehadi, Nadim and Wilmhurst, Elizabeth 2007, The Special Tribunal for Lebanon: the UN on Trial?‟ Chatham House, Middle East/International Law Briefing Paper MEP/IL BP 07/01, July http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/9408_bp0707lebanon.pdf - Accessed 30 November 2010.
20. RRT Country Research 2008, Research Response LBN33809, 2 October.
Page 10 of 11 21. BBC News 2010, „Timeline: Lebanon - A chronology of key events‟ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/819200.stm - Accessed 30 November 2010.
22. RRT Research 2007, Research Response LBN31266, 24 January.
23. RRT Country Research 2002, Research Response LBN15443, 2 October.
24. Gambill, Gary C., Abdelnour Ziad K. 2002, ‘Dossier: Fouad Malek, Former Chief-of-Staff of the Lebanese Forces (LF)‟, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, vol. 4 no. 11-12 November-December 2002.
25. Hatem, R. 1999, From Israel to Damascus, Pide International Publications, California, http://www.israeltodamascus.com/thebook.htm#CHAPTER1 – Accessed 25 November 2002.
26. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2007, DFAT Report No. 648, RRT Information Request; LBN31756, 30 May.
27. Muir, Jim 2010, „Deep divisions haunt Lebanese politics‟, BBC News, 22 September http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11392034 - Accessed 30 November 2010.
28. Muir, Jim 2010, Lebanon tense as fingers point over Hariri killing, BBC News, 25 November http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11837816 - Accessed 30 November 2010.
29. United Nations Security Council 2010, „Twelfth semi-annual report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004)‟, 18 October http://daccess-dds- ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N10/590/20/PDF/N1059020.pdf?OpenElement – Accessed 30 November 2010.
30. UN Security Council, Fourteenth report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), 11 November 2010, S/2010/565 http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/category,COI,,,LBN,4cdbfe502,0.html – Accessed 26 November 2010.
Page 11 of 11