Dany Chamoun

Dany Chamoun داني شمعون
Dany Chamoun wearing a shirt with the Tiger's Militia logo.
Personal details
Born	26 August 1934(1934-08-26) Deir el Qamar, Lebanon
Died	21 October 1990(1990-10-21) (aged 56) Beirut
Political party	National Liberal Party
Religion	Christian Maronite

Dany Chamoun (Arabic: داني شمعون‎) (26 August 1934 – 21 October 1990) was a prominent Lebanese politician. A Maronite Christian and the younger son of former President Camille Chamoun, Dany Chamoun was also a politician in his own right, and was known for his opposition to the occupation of Lebanese territory by foreign forces, whether Syrian or Israeli.

Biography

Dany Chamoun was born at Deir el-Qamar. He became the National Liberal Party Secretary of Defense in January 1976, after the death of its predecessor Naim Berdkan. As Supreme Commander of the NLP's military wing, the Tigers, he also played a major role in the early years of the Lebanese Civil War.

In 1976, the NLP Tigers under Dany's command along with the Phalangist Kataeb Regulatory Forces, Al-Tanzim and Guardians of the Cedars formed a joined militia command under the name Lebanese Forces.

By 1980, the Phalangist-dominated Lebanese Forces were under the command of Bashir Gemayel. Rivalry began to arise between Bashir and Dany. Dany's Tigers were eliminated as a military force in a massacre perpetrated on 7 July 1980 by the rival Phalangists. Chamoun's life was spared and he fled to the Muslim-dominated West Beirut. He temporarily quit politics.

Chamoun was a supporter of the nationalist Christian cause at heart, however, and he soon returned to the cause to which he, like his father, had dedicated his life. He served as General Secretary of the National Liberal Party from 1983 to 1985, when he replaced his father as the party leader. In 1988, he became President of the revived Lebanese Front – a coalition of nationalist and mainly Christian parties and politicians that his father had helped to found. The same year, he announced his candidacy for the Presidency of Lebanon to succeed Amine Gemayel (Bashir's brother), but Syria (which by this time occupied some 70 percent of Lebanese territory) vetoed his candidacy.

Gemayel's term expired on 23 September 1988, without the election of a successor. Chamoun declared his strong support for General Michel Aoun, who had been appointed by the outgoing President to lead an interim administration and went on to lead one of two rival governments that contended for power over the next two years. He strongly opposed the Taif Agreement, which not only gave a greater share of power to the Muslim community than they had enjoyed previously, but more seriously, in Chamoun's opinion, formalized what he saw as the master-servant relationship between Syria and Lebanon, and refused to recognize the new government of President Elias Hrawi, who was elected under the Taif Agreement.

Assassination

On 21 October 1990, Dany Chamoun, along with his German-born second wife Ingrid, and his two sons, Tarek (7) and Julian (5), were assassinated. Tracy their sister miraculously escaped the slaughter. Dany's rival Christian leader Samir Geagea head of the Lebanese Forces was subsequently tried for the murder. The trial lasted 2 years in which 120 witnesses where heard and Geagea was found unanimously guilty of the murder by all 6 Supreme Court Judges. He was sentenced to death which was commuted to life imprisonment. Geagea was subsequently released from jail 12 years later for political reasons. Leaders of the Cedar Revolution considered the Geagea trials and sentences to be unjust, politically motivated, and orchestrated by the vassal regime that ruled Lebanon during the Syrian occupation to oust Geagea from the political scene and dismantle the Lebanese Forces.

The Lebanese Parliament passed an amnesty bill on 18 July 2005 to free Samir Geagea. It is speculated that the killing of Dany Chamoun was intended to divide the Lebanese Christians and many accuse Syria of having a hand in his death.

See also

• Lebanese civil war
• Lebanese Front
• Lebanese Forces
• Tigers Militia (Lebanon)