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The White House to Receive Convicted War Criminal Samir Geagea
Washington, D.C., 2008 -
The George W. Bush Administration is set for an official
meeting in March with a convicted Lebanese warlord,
widely recognized for planning, ordering and
committing war crimes that left permanent scars on the
minds and bodies of thousands of Lebanese citizens.
Mr. Samir Geagea was the leader of the "Lebanese Forces
militia" during the Lebanese war that lasted from 1975
to 1990. His bloody history against the people and the
national army of Lebanon has shaped Lebanon's modern
history, leaving behind thousands of widows, orphans,
handicapped and displaced people, as well as destroyed
public and private property. If for any reason Samir
Geagea should be in the United States, it should be
to stand trial for his war crimes against the families
and friends of many Lebanese-Americans who either
lived or witnessed the Lebanese war.
As of 1994, Geagea was tried and convicted for four
crimes - only a small portion of his long list of war
crimes that we have listed below for your
reference. He was convicted for:
1. The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister,
Mr. Rachid Karami
2. The assassination of a former leading figure in the
Lebanese Forces militia, Elias Zayek
3. The assassination of Christian leader Dany
Chamoun with his wife and two young children
(ages 5 and 7).
4. The assassination attempt against Deputy Prime
Minister/Minister of the Interior Michel Murr
[5. The cold blooded murder of Tony Frangieh, his wife
and baby daughter and 35 hapless Lebanese]
[6. Murder of Ghaith Khoury (head of the kataeb militia
in Jbeil) and Emile Azzar (LF fighter)... And the
assassination attempts of Fouad Abou Nader (LF
commander) and ... Mr.Elie Hobeika.]
[7. Geagea also killed Brigadier General Khalil
Kanaan (Army officer) and Rizkallah (Razouk) Atik
(LF fighter), brother of Hanna Atik (Hanoun, chef
of the former Saddem elite LF unit) and tried to kill
Assaad (Asso) Shaftari (Deputy to Mr. Elie Hobeika)
and bombed a convent in Zahleh in an assassination
attempt on Mr. Elie Hobeika....]
Zayek was a Christian leader who posed a threat to
Geagea's dreams of the militia leadership. Dany
Chamoun, son of late Lebanese President Camille
Chamoun, was one of the most active and independent
Christian leaders during the Syrian invasion of 1990,
and was also a threat to Geagea's ambition of being
the sole Christian leader. In 1997/98, Geagea commenced
his collaboration with the brutal Syrian regime at
the expense of the Lebanese people...
Although he was not convicted, Geagea was suspected
of bombing the Maronite Catholic church of Saydet Najat
in Jounieh, in which tens of worshipers were killed in
1994. The judges could not convict him "for insufficient
evidence" as per the official verdict. Geagea was
sentenced to death for his assassination crimes, and the
sentence was later reduced to lifetime in prison.
Geagea only spent 11 years in jail, and was pardoned
in a special bill passed by the Lebanese parliament on
July 18, 2005. An interesting condition about this
"special pardon" is that it not only included Geagea,
but also included a score of Al Qaeda-inspired extremists
who were captured after conducting terrorist attacks
against the Lebanese army and civilians in 2000/01.
Geagea's release is perceived by many people as a
cover up and distraction for the release of these
Islamist extremists....
A leader of a relatively insignificant political
party, Geagea holds no public official or representative
status. This criminal and insignificant party leader
holds no official title or position in the Lebanese
government to be received by the Bush Administration
or the Republican Party.
To grant a US entry visa to a convicted war criminal
such as Samir Geagea, and to permit him to defile the
land of the free is not only against US law, but is
also an unacceptable deed, and a great insult to the
American people and to the values inherent in the
American Constitution (Please see note below from
Department of Homeland Security). Criminals such as
Geagea should not set foot on the soil of the United
States, not to mention that of the White House or the
Capitol Building. The eyes that enjoyed gazing coldly
at the grief of hundreds of thousands of mothers,
fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters,
grandfathers and grandmothers from all over the world,
should never be allowed to look toward the home of the
brave.
We trust that the Congress and the Administration of
the United States will take the proper measures to
put an end to this ill-conceived visit.
Lebanese Americans for Justice?
Geagea also killed Brigadier General Khalil
Kanaan (Army officer) and Rizkallah (Razouk)
Atik (LF fighter), brother of Hanna Atik (Hanoun,
chef of the former Saddem elite LF unit) and
tried to kill Assaad (Asso) Shaftari ( Deputy
to Mr. Elie Hobeika).
---Nader Sukkar (opposition
MP of Baalbeck Hermel), Ghassan Touma (who lives in
the US), Tony Obeid (who lives in Australia) and
Raji Abdo, Naji N. Najjar, Walid Phares, Ziad
Abdelnour, (who live in the US)....
