Assassination of Bachir Gemayel
Assassination of Bachir Gemayel | |
---|---|
Part of the Lebanese Civil War | |
Location | Beirut, Lebanon |
Date | 14 September 1982 |
Target | Bachir Gemayel |
Attack type | TNT explosion |
Weapon | Remote-controlled explosive |
Deaths | 24 |
Injured | 70+ |
Perpetrators | Habib Shartouni and Nabil Alam |
On 14 September 1982, a bomb was detonated during a party meeting in the Kataeb Party headquarters in Achrafieh, Beirut which killed Lebanese president-elect Bachir Gemayel and 25 other affiliates of the party.
The attack was carried out by
Background
Habib Tanious Shartouni, a
Israel
Assassination
On 14 September 1982, Bashir Gemayel was addressing fellow Phalangists at their headquarters in Achrafieh for the last time as their leader and for the last time as commander of the Lebanese Forces. At 4:10 PM, an estimated 180 kilograms of TNT was detonated, killing Gemayel and 23 other Phalange politicians. The first testimonies stated that Gemayel had left the premises on foot or in an ambulance (bearing the number 90). For several hours after the explosion it was believed that Gemayel survived the blast. Some reported that he is in an ongoing treatment of leg bruises at the nearby Hotel Dieu hospital. In reaction to this Church bells were rung in celebration of his reported survival.[11] Then the commander of military intelligence Jonny Abdu reported that Bachir Gemayel had been taken to a hospital in Haifa by helicopter. The search and rescue teams on the field were unable to find him or his body.[12] His body was finally identified five and a half hours after the explosion by a Mossad agent in a church close to the site of the explosion where the dead were being collected. The face on the body was unrecognizable; he was identified by the white-gold wedding ring he was wearing and two letters he was carrying addressed to Bachir Gemayel. It was concluded that he had been one of the first people moved to the church after the explosion.[13] Rumors persisted that Gemayel had survived, until it was confirmed the following morning by the Lebanese Prime Minister Shafik Wazzan that he had indeed been killed in the attack.[14]
Aftermath
Bachir Gemayel's older brother Amine Gemayel was not long after elected president, serving from 1982[15] to 1988. The parliament had 80 of the 99 MPs present for the elections.[16] Amine Gemayel was elected during the first round of voting. 77 votes for Amine Gemayel and 3 blank ballots.[16] Rather different in temperament, Amine Gemayel was widely regarded as more moderate than his brother. Gemayel never promised the Israelis anything in order to be elected president, but he promised that he would follow the path of his brother Bashir whatever that path was. He left his post in the Kataeb Party after being elected president.[17] Once elected, he refused to meet any Israeli official.[18]
Trial
Shartouni was handed over to Lebanese justice. Amine Gemayel, Bachir's elder brother, succeeded him to the presidency seat after his assassination. Habib had spent eight years held captive in Roumieh prison without an official trial, until 13 October 1990 when he escaped during the final Syrian offensive in Lebanon that was aimed at toppling the government headed by Michel Aoun.[19] Shartouni was sentenced to death in absentia by the Lebanese court on 20 October 2017 after admitting his part in the assassination.[20] In interviews with Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar in 2012 and 2017, Shartouni stated that after his escape, he resided in Syria between 1994 and 2004, and did not disclose his current whereabouts. He also denied that he visited Lebanon since his escape from prison in 1990.[21][22]
On 20 October 2017, the Judicial Council, Lebanon's highest state security court, sentenced Habib Shartouni and Nabil al-Alam to death in absentia in the case of the 1982 assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel. The Council also stripped former Syrian Social National Party members Shartouni and Alam of their civil rights.[23]
Reactions
Condemnations poured in from around the world, including the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 520 as well as from American President Ronald Reagan. Reagan had been one of Gemayel's staunchest supporters, saying "this promising young leader had brought the light of hope to Lebanon."[24]
The then prime minister Shafik Wazzan said while conforming the death of Bachir Gemayel, "I face this shocking news with the strongest denunciation for this criminal act."[11]
On the evening of 14 September, following the news that
Protests broke out in Beirut during the third trial investigating the assassination. Separated by the riot police, supporters of both the SSNP and the Kataeb Party blocked the road in front of the Justice Palace. A SSNP member on Al-Jadeed said that Shartouni "is a hero the size of a nation".[29]
See also
Reference
- ^ "Phalangists Identify Bomber of Gemayel As Lebanese Leftist". The New York Times. 3 October 1982. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Habib al-Shartouni: Striking the Head of Collaboration". Al Akhbar English. 2012-07-23. Archived from the original on 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ISBN 978-0-671-60044-0.
- ^ Bsisu, N. (2012). "Israeli Domestic Politics and the War in Lebanon" (PDF). Lights: The MESSA Journal. 29. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ "Israel and Lebanon – Allies – Part 2". YouTube. 20 August 2007. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ^ Khalife, Nabil (2008). Lebanon in Kissinger's Plan. Byblos Center for Research. p. 271.
- ISBN 978-0674067523.
- ^ "By 1982, the Israeli-Maronite relationship was quite the open secret, with Maronite militiamen training in Israel and high-level Maronite and Israeli leaders making regular reciprocal visits to one another's homes and headquarters" (Eisenberg and Caplan, 1998, p. 45).
- ^ Sabra and Shatilla Archived 30 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Jewish Voice for Peace. Accessed 17 July 2006.
- ^ Sabra and Shatila 20 years on. BBC, 14 September 2002. Accessed 17 July 2006.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
- ISBN 978-0671479916.
- ISBN 978-0671479916.
- ^ From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
- ISBN 978-0674067523.
- ^ a b "Election of the Presidents of the Lebanese Republic". monthlymagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
- ^ "Anti-Gemayel 'front' formed in Lebanon". The Milwaukee Journal. 23 July 1983. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ Maroun, Pierre (February–March 2003). "Dossier: Amine Gemayel Former President of Lebanon". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. 5 (2). Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^ "Naharnet — Lebanon's leading news destination". Naharnet.com. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ^ "Lebanese court issues death sentence over 1982 Gemayel assassination". Reuters. 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
- ^ "Lebanese court issues death sentence over 1982 Gemayel assassination". Reuters. 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
- ^ Diab, Afif (2012-07-23). "Habib al-Shartouni: Striking the Head of Collaboration". al-Akhbar. Archived from the original on 2017-02-26. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
- ^ "Shartouni Alam sentenced to death over Bashir Gemayel assassination". www.naharnet.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
- ^ Statement on the Assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel of Lebanon
- ^ Kahan. pp. 13, 14
- ^ Kahan. p. 15
- ^ Panorama: "The Accused", broadcast by the BBC, 17 June 2001; transcript accessed 9 February 2006.
- ^ Mark Ensalaco, Middle Eastern Terrorism: From Black September to September 11, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012 p. 137.
- ^ lebanons01 (2017-05-03). "Protests erupt as third trial on Bachir Gemayel assassination begins". Civil Society Knowledge Centre. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
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