|
Émile Lahoud اميل لحود |
|
![]() |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
|
In office 24 November 1998 – 24 November 2007 |
|
| Prime Minister | Rafiq al-Hariri Selim al-Hoss Rafiq al-Hariri Omar Karami Najib Mikati Fouad Siniora |
| Preceded by | Elias Hrawi |
| Succeeded by | Fouad Siniora (Acting)[1] |
|
|
|
| Born | 12 January 1936 [2] Beirut, Lebanon |
| Religion | Maronite Catholic |
General Émile Jamil Lahoud ( born 12 January 1936) is a former President of Lebanon. Lahoud is a Maronite-Catholic, as is the norm for the Lebanese presidency. Under Lebanon's unwritten constitutional agreement, the National Pact, the presidency is earmarked for a Maronite Catholic, the parliament speaker's post for a Shiite Muslim and the prime minister's post is reserved for a Sunni Muslim.
He is the son of General Jamil Lahoud, a leader in the independence movement. His mother is of Armenian descent from the Armenian village of Kasab. Before being elected in 1998, he was Chief of Staff in the Army.
Contents |
Lahoud served as a colonel for a number of years before he crossed over into the Muslim area which was backed by the Syrian army. 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. Lahoud was offered the position.
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, in 2004, the parliament voted to extend his term for an additional three years to 2007 (his predecessor, Elias Hrawi, did the same).
He is married to Andrée Amdouni and they have three children: Emile, Ralf and Karine who was married to Lebanon's defense minister Elias Murr,
Israeli government, Druze warlord Walid Jumblatt and leader of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea, have been vocal critics.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michel Aoun |
Commander of the Lebanese Armed
Forces 1989–1998 |
Succeeded by Michel Sleiman |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Elias Hrawi |
President of Lebanon 1998–2007 |
Succeeded by Fouad Siniora Acting |
|
|||||||||||
|
|