Émile Lahoud

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Émile Lahoud
14th President of Lebanon
Incumbent
Assumed office  November 24, 1998
Preceded by	Elias Hrawi
Born	January 12, 1936
Religion	Maronite Christian

General Émile Geamil Lahoud (Arabic: اميل لحود‎, Armenian: Իմիլ Լահուտ; born January 12, 1936) is the President of Lebanon. He is the son of General Jamil Lahoud (a Maronite Christian), a leader in the independence movement. His mother is of Armenian descent from the Armenian village of Kasab in Syria. Before being elected in 1998, he was Chief of Staff in the Army. As the nation's president, he is in command of the Lebanese army. His ex-son-in-law is Lebanon's defense minister, Elias Murr.

[edit] Political life

Lahoud served under General Michel Aoun during the final years of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-90). After an Arab League-brokered cease-fire took effect, Lahoud crossed over into Syrian-controlled west Beirut. A Maronite military officer was needed to assume the position of army commander for the West Beirut-based Lebanese government endorsed by the 1989 Taif Agreement^{[citation needed]}. Lahoud was offered the position. According to one source, Lahoud had connections to an influential Syrian army officer, Ali Hammoud, who recommended him for the job.^{[citation needed]}

He quickly accepted. He served in various posts in the military, including commander-in-chief of the army from 1989 to 1998, and then ran for the presidency in 1998, after having the constitution amended to allow the army commander-in-chief to run for office within three years of holding that post.

Under the Lebanese constitution, the President's term was limited to one six-year term. However, under continued pressure from Syria^{[citation needed]}, in 2004, the parliament voted to extend his term for an additional three years to 2007 (his predecessor, Elias Hrawi, did the same). Lebanese opposition figures and international critics claim that the extension was illegal because the constitution was amended under foreign duress.

[edit] Criticism

Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Leader of the Lebanese Forces, Dr. Samir Geagea, have been vocal critics. Assassinated Sunni former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who had worked under Syrian support for many years, clashed with Damascus over the extension of Lahoud's term. He was later killed by a car bomb after he resigned as part of the constitutional process of the extension and wasn't reconducted to office. Lebanese opposition blamed Syria for the attack.

According to The New York Times, Émile Lahoud has a reputation for "lounging through most afternoons in his Speedos by the pool at the Yarze country club, reading Paris-Match magazine and holding a tanning mirror." The newspaper reported that Lahoud denied allegations that he went swimming on the day of Hariri's funeral. He told a group of journalists: "I swim every day — it's my workout — but on that specific day, I did not swim." [1]

Supporters of Emile Lahoud have suggested that many of these criticisms are nothing more than political character assasination done by his opponents.

[edit] External links

• Republic of Lebanon - The President official site

Military Offices
Preceded by Michel Aoun	Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces 1989-1998	Succeeded by Michel Sulaiman
Political offices
Preceded by Elias Hrawi	President of Lebanon 1998–Present	Incumbent