Assem Qanso

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Ali Qanso, former head of the SSNP.
Assem Qanso
عاصم قانصوه
Ba'ath Party
In office
2000–2005
National SecretaryAbdullah al-Ahmar
Preceded bySayf al-Din Ghazi
Succeeded bySayf al-Din Ghazi
In office
1971–1989
National SecretaryHafez al-Assad
Preceded byMagali Nasrawin
Succeeded byAbdullah Al-Amin
Personal details
Born1937 (age 86–87)
Syria-based Ba'ath Party (Lebanon branch: 1966–present)
Alma materUniversity of Zagreb

Muhammad Assem Qanso (

Arabic: عاصم قانصوه, born 1937 in Baalbek) is a Lebanese politician. He is a former leader of the Lebanese Ba'ath Party
.

Political career

Qanso joined the Lebanese Ba'ath in 1953. During the Lebanese war, the Lebanese Ba'ath was divided into two hostile groups: a pro-Iraqi group and a pro-Syrian group. Qanso is staunchly pro-Syrian.

Relations between the Kataeb Party and the Ba'ath Party improved when on the orders of Karim Pakradouni (the leader of the Kataeb Party) and Qanso agreed to establish a committee between the two parties to discuss Lebanese and Arab politics. Relations improved further when the Syrian Ba'athist government increased its contacts with the Kataeb Party.[1] During the Lebanese civil war, the Lebanese parliament formed the National Dialogue Committee in 1975; Qanso was a National Dialogue Committee representative. Qanso opposed the notion that the resignation of Suleiman Frangieh, the President of Lebanon, would end the conflict.[2]

Following the death of Hafez al-Assad in 2000, notable figures such as Abdul Halim Khaddam and Ghazi Kanaan, supported Rafic Hariri against Émile Lahoud, the then sitting President of Lebanon, during the 2000 general election.[3] Qanso supported Khaddam and Kanaan's position, and declared during a parliamentary session "there is no zaim [leader] but Rafik Hariri."[4] On a later occasion, he stated: "It was a message to Lahoud that, if he tried to break Hariri, Kanaan would break Lahoud."[4] He later changed his position and supported to extend Lahoud's mandate, and Qanso began criticising the opposition. Qanso warned Walid Jumblat that "you are not out of reach of our militants".[5] Jumblat replied by stating it was the Ba'ath Party which had ordered the assassination of his father, Kamal Jumblatt.[5]

2009 election and parliamentarian

There were discussions within the Ba'ath Party if Qanso was to give up his candidacy in the

United States Government led by Barack Obama announced an extension of its travel ban and asset freeze against those seeking “to undermine Lebanon’s legitimate and democratically elected government.” Qanso was amongst those effected by the extension of sanctions.[10] The Ba'ath Party which supports Najib Mikati, the then Prime Minister of Lebanon, claimed, through Qanso, that it "should have been represented in the [Mikati] government, just like the Syrian Social Nationalist Party”.[9]

Syrian Civil War

Further information:
Syrian Civil War

Qanso supports the position of the

MTV Lebanon Qanso accused a conspiracy centered around Lebanon First bloc MP Okab Sakr, Hani Hammoud, and Saad Hariri, former Prime Minister of Lebanon, of fomenting the uprising in Syria. He further claimed that there was no good reason for the Assad government to resign.[14]

Qanso tried to persuade Mikati to expel

al-Qaida had infiltrated more than 20 political organisations in Lebanon, this was in deep contrast to what Mikati stated when he claimed that Lebanon was "al-Qaida free".[16] Qanso further claimed that "If Syria falls, the last resistance bastion will turn into a state similar to that of Egypt or Libya and will become a breeding ground for Salafis and [the Muslim Brotherhood].[16] On 30 January Qanso stated his believes that "The vast majority of [Syrian] people are with the Ba'ath Party that is tasked with protecting Syrian President Bashar Assad.”[17] At the same time he announced that the Lebanese Ba'ath Party would hold a conference on 7–8 February 2012 in Syria to discuss and approve the reform package which is planned to be introduced by Bashar al-Assad's government.[17]

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-674-08105-5
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-674-08105-5
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-84511-202-8
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84511-202-8
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-84511-202-8
    .
  6. NOW Lebanon. Archived from the original
    on May 8, 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  7. NOW Lebanon. Archived from the original
    on May 8, 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  8. NOW Lebanon. Archived from the original
    on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  9. ^
    Daily Star
    . Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  10. Daily Star
    . Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  11. NOW Lebanon. Archived from the original
    on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  12. ^ Staff writer (15 November 2011). "Qanso condemns Arab League decision on Syria". NOW Lebanon. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  13. ^ "Qanso condemns Arab League's role in Syrian crisis". NOW Lebanon. 26 November 2011. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  14. ^ "Qanso: Sakr, Hammoud and Hariri behind Syrian protests". NOW Lebanon. 3 December 2011. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  15. Daily Star
    . Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  16. ^
    Daily Star
    . Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  17. ^
    Daily Star
    . Retrieved 16 February 2012.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Assem_Qanso&oldid=1221750648"