When Mossad Chose Geagea to Kill Frangieh!

Saturday 16 June 2012

When Mossad Chose Geagea to Kill Frangieh!

Hussein Assi

This week, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea chose to boycott the national dialogue table, distinguishing himself even from his allies.

But Geagea's move was not strange. The LF chief's history does not signal openness and dialogue culture. Rather, it's associated with murder and killing, which led him to prison for 11 years, which ended with a political "amnesty."

Ehden Massacre...

One of the most famous "crimes" Geagea was accused of is the Ehden massacre, which took place on June 13, 1978, and which claimed the lives of

Tony Franjieh, his wife Vera el-Kordahi and four-year daughter Jihane, whereas his other son, Suleiman, was in Beirut at the time of the murder.

The crime was linked to the conflict which erupted during Lebanon's Civil War between two of the leading Maronite clans, the Frangiehs and the Gemayels. The Frangiehs, who were close to Syria, were critical of Phalangist Kataeb Regulatory Forces' militia leader Bachier Gemayels' growing alliance with the "Israeli" enemy.

On the morning of 13 June 1978 at 4am, a Phalange RF 600-men squad led by Samir Geagea and Elie Hobeika attacked Tony Frangieh's mansion in an attempt to eliminate the Frangieh Clan, according to history files. Tony Frangieh would be murdered after the assault. However, no official investigation was ever made to find out who killed the Frangieh family.

Mossad Chose Geagea..

Each of Hobeika and Geagea would later accuse the other of the killing and deny any responsibility themselves. However, some reports attribute to Geagea an acknowledgement in 1985 of being behind what he called an "operation" not "incident".

In an interview with then Arab and International An-Nahar, he claimed that what happened in Ehden was a security operation imposed by the circumstances in the north. The goal of the operation, according to him, was not necessarily to kill Frangieh, but to prove to the Frangiehs that the north was not their own "farm."

French journalist Richard Labeviere recently published a book about the issue, in which he revealed that was chosen in 1978 by the "Israeli" Mossad to execute the dreaded and deadly offensive against Ehden.

He uncovered in this context that an "Israeli" Mossad operative known as Cassas unveiled the reasons that led the Mossad to choose Samir Geagea for the attack against Ehden.
"With the intention to ensure that Tony Frangieh is assassinated, the Mossad psychological team analyzed the personalities of a number of Kataeb party figures in order to select one of them to lead the attack against Ehden and thus they picked Samir Geagea as the most appropriate candidate," Labeviere quoted Cassas as saying.

"The plan aimed at having the Christian parts of northern Lebanon under the full military control of the Kataeb party while the hidden motive was to assassinate Tony Frangieh, who represented the biggest challenge for Bashir Gemayel as far as the Lebanese presidency is concerned," the French journalist explained. "The operation had to be assigned to a man who would make it his personal issue. Samir Geagea was chosen for three key reasons; he is from neighboring Becharrie which is renowned for its animosity towards the people of Zgharta, he came from an average family and he was a stern adversary of major political families."

He Believed in Cause until Martyrdom

Today, the Marada leadership stresses that the Edhen masscacre is unforgettable.

The movement's spokesman, lawyer Suleiman Franjieh, told moqawama.org in this context that Tony Franjieh sacrificed his own life because he believed in Lebanon's unity and mainly, Lebanon's enmity to the Zionist entity. "The importance of Tony Franjieh's sacrifice cannot be undermined," lawyer Franjieh said. "He believed in the importance of the cause until martyrdom," he added.

Franjieh said that the Marada movement believes that loyalty to the martyrs can be represented by any act that serves Lebanon. "The martyrs wanted to reach a strong and united Lebanon, and what we are seeking to achieve," he highlighted. "The most important loyalty to Tony Franjieh was achieved during the Resistance and Liberation Day on May 25, 2000. Indeed, Franjieh was martyred because of his enmity to "Israel" and his belief in the cause. Furthermore, his assassination was actually an "Israeli" supported operation. That's why wiping the occupation off represents loyalty to our martyr."

Sedition Plot...

While the Marada movement spokesman was keen to directly accuse Geagea or anyone else of standing behind the crime, he said that some "groups" have executed the operation which was a huge "Israeli" operation. He said that the plot which was prepared against Lebanon was a sedition and division scheme aimed at pushing Lebanon into a single peace with the Zionist enemy. "Tony Franjieh was clearly against this plot and was committed to Lebanon's unity, and this reality constituted a serious obstacle in the face of the plot, and that's why he was martyred."

Lawyer Franjieh also remarked that Franjieh's assassination also came in the light of the famous Northern reconciliation between Franjieh and former Prime Minister Rashid Karame in 1977. "This reconciliation made the northern leaders stand altogether, which represented a flagrant message to the project of Lebanon's enemies, the division one," he explained.

Asked about the judicial follow-up, Franjieh confirmed that no serious work was done. He referred to the war circumstances to justify this, pointing to the status of the Lebanese state at the time.

"Tony Franjieh was martyred because he believed in such an honorable cause, resistance. Therefore, martyr Tony Franjieh seems to be in the same line with this resistance in face of the Zionist enemy, including the Resistance's martyrs as well as late PM Rashid Karame," said lawyer Suleiman Franjieh in conclusion...

Source: moqawama.org