Elie Hobeika

Elie Hobeika
Born	(1956-09-22)September 22, 1956 Kleiat, Lebanon
Died	January 24, 2002(2002-01-24) (aged 45) (aged 45) Beirut
Nationality	Lebanese
Religion	Christianity
Spouse(s)	Gina Raymond Nachaty

Elie Hobeika (22 September 1956 – 24 January 2002) (Arabic: إيلي حبيقة) was a Lebanese Phalangist and Lebanese Forces militia commander during the Lebanese Civil War, and former MP. Hobeika gained notoriety when, as the leader of the Phalangist forces, he was accused of directing the massacre in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut in 1982.

Early life

Hobeika was born in Kleiat in the Kessruan, Lebanon, to a Maronite family on 22 September 1956. According to The Guardian, he was deeply influenced by the massacre of much of his family and of his fiancée by Palestinian militiamen at the Damour massacre of 1976.

Lebanese Civil War

Hobeika distinguished himself as a ruthless warrior, gaining the nickname "HK," after the Heckler and Koch sub-machinegun he carried. In July 1977, Hobeika, then only known under the pseudonym "Chef Edward", led a massacre against civilians and Palestinian militants in the south Lebanese village Yarin where about 80 people of which probably 20 to 30 were civilians were lined up in front of the school and shot.

He steadily became prominent in the Phalange, which had defeated rival Christian militias by July 1980 and incorporated them into the Lebanese Forces (LF). In 1978, Hobeika became head of the LF's security agency (jihaz al-amin). He also became a personal bodyguard of Bashir Gemayel. In the years that followed, he developed close ties with both the Israeli military and the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

During Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Hobeika acted as the principal military liaison to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). When Israeli forces took over west Beirut, he was eager to settle old scores with the Palestinian refugees living there, particularly after the assassination of the LF's commander, President-elect Bashir Gemayel. In September 1982, Hobeika ordered LF militiamen into the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, which had recently been evacuated by the PLO. Over the next three days, LF forces killed between 762 and 3,500 residents of the camp. Until 1985, Hobeika sided with Israel. However, then he began to support Syria's presence in Lebanon.

Hobeika was involved in another strike in March 1985. The CIA reportedly paid Hobeika (through Lebanese army intelligence officers) to assassinate Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, the spiritual leader of the militant Shi'ite group Hezbollah because Fadlallah was considered by US officials to have taken part in planning the October 1983 bombing of the US marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 servicemen. However, the assassination attempt was unsuccessful in that the car bombing near Fadlallah's residence killed dozens of bystanders, but left Fadlallah unscathed. The massacre led the CIA to terminate its relationship with Hobeika and gave Hezbollah a lasting grudge against him. Hobeika was removed from the Lebanese Forces by their leader Samir Geagea due to his alleged "betrayal". After this event, Hobeika fled to Zahle and then to West Beirut. He established a political movement there, the Waad Party. In 1990, his forces fought with the Syrian forces against General Michael Aoun. After civil ended following the Taif Accord, Hobeika benefited from an amnesty for crimes committed during the Lebanon civil war in 1991.

In 1983, an Israeli state inquiry named Hobeika as the man who personally directed the Sabra and Shatila massacre. In June 2001, Chibli Mallat, a left-wing Maronite lawyer, filed a case against Ariel Sharon in Belgium under a law that allowed foreigners to be sued for crimes against humanity. Just before his death, Hobeika publicly declared his intention to testify against Sharon about his involvement in the Sabra and Shatila massacre in the Belgian court. Josy Dubié, a Belgian senator, was quoted as saying that Hobeika had told him several days before his death that he had "revelations" to disclose about the massacres and felt "threatened". When Dubié had asked him why he did not reveal all the facts he knew immediately, Hobeika is reported to have said: "I am saving them for the trial". At a news conference, he said, "I am very interested that the [Belgium] trial starts because my innocence is a core issue."

Political career

As head of the Waad Party, Hobeika was elected to Parliament in 1992 and in 1996. During his term in the Parliament, he served in several ministerial positions: minister of state for emigrants' affairs (May 1992-October 1992); minister of state for social affairs and the handicapped (October 1992-September 1994) and minister of water resources and electricity (June 1993-December 1998). When he was minister of water resources and electricity, massive power projects were realized in Baddawi and Zahrani, Zouk and Baalbeck, and massive electrical grid installation and distribution throughout Lebanon, including the outlying areas still in turmoil with Israeli Forces in the south, hence the progress was too slow compared to the massive increase in the Megawatts needed, since little electricity projects were accomplished over 18 years of civil unrest, mainly because of the Israeli Operation Grapes of Wrath. In 2000, Hobeika lost his parliament seat,due to active Syrian interference against him in the election.

The Tripartite Agreement

The Tripartite Agreement was intended to end the Lebanese conflict. In December 1985, the various Christian militias, the Shiite Amal Movement and the Druze Progressive Socialist Party met in Damascus reaching agreement on political reforms as well as special relations with Syria. However on 15 January 1986, President Amine Gemayel and Samir Geagea organised a coup against Hobeika thus rendering the agreement null and void.

Personal life

Hobeika married Gina Raymond Nachaty in 1981. They had a daughter, who died in infancy and a son, Joseph.

Assassination

Hobeika was killed on 24 January 2002 at the age of 45 when a car bomb detonated near his house in the Beirut suburb of Hazmiyeh. The explosion killed three other people, including his two bodyguards, and wounded six more people.

Perpetrators

A group, Lebanese for a Free and Independent Lebanon, issued a statement after the assassination, claiming responsibility for the killing of Hobeika. The group announced that it killed Hobeika, since he was a "Syrian agent" and an "effective tool" in the hands of Ghazi Kenaan, the then head of military intelligence.

See also

• Promise Party
• Lebanese Forces
• Lebanese Forces – Executive Command
• Lebanese Civil War