LAHAD, ANTOINE

Lebanese general, Christian Maronite, born in 1927 at Kfar al'Katra, in the Shuf. Antoine Lahad joined the Lebanese army as an infantry officer in 1948. Between 1954 and 1958 he was assistant to the head of the Deuxième Bureau (military intelligence) and vice commander of the South Lebanon region. In 1966, he was interim head of intelligence for a few months. Four years later, Lahad studied at the general staff school in Paris, and, between 1971 and 1975, was assistant commander, then commander of the Baqaa region of Lebanon. Meanwhile he was following a course of studies at the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre, in Paris. In 1978 Lahad was named brigadier general and assigned to reserve status two months later.

In 1981 Lahad resumed serving and in the following year, participated in the fighting triggered by the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The Lebanese army, which had been much weakened by desertions during the civil war, functioned in effect as a Christian militia, tacitly supporting the Israelis and their allies in the Lebanese Forces by fighting mainly against the AMAL and Iranian Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran). During 1983, as the government reorganized the army, Lahad resigned his commission. On 3 April 1984 he was recruited by Israel to become the commander of its proxy force, the South Lebanon Army (SLA), replacing Saʿd Haddad, who had died a few weeks earlier. During the night of 7–8 November 1988, Lahad was wounded in an assassination attempt carried out by a young Lebanese woman, Suha Beshara, a member of the Lebanese Communist Party. He was evacuated to Israel, where he received medical care for a few months. The following year, he traveled to Germany to receive further care, but one arm remained paralyzed. On 17 January 1996 Lahad went to Israel and was received by Shimon Peres, who assured him of the support of Israel. On 23 January Lahad was indicted in absentia by the Lebanese military tribunal for "dealings with the enemy," an accusation that made him liable for the sentence of death. On 6 December of the same year, Lahad was condemned to death, also in absentia, by the same tribunal. At the end of May 2000, following the definitive withdrawal of the Israeli army from South Lebanon and the disbanding of the SLA, Lahad took refuge in Israel. General Lahad belonged to the National Liberal Party (NLP) of Camille Chamoun.

SEE ALSO AMAL;Lebanese Forces;Pasdaran;Peres, Shimon;South Lebanon;South Lebanon Army.