François al-Hajj

General François al-Hajj ( _ar. الجنرال فرنسوا الحاج, July 28, 1953 – December 12, 2007) was born in the southern Lebanese town of Rmaich. He was the Lebanese Army's chief of operations. He was chief of operations when Lebanon's army fought Islamic militants from Fatah al-Islam in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp earlier in 2007. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7139809.stm Blast kills Lebanon army general] ] He was killed in a bomb attack on December 12, 2007. [cite web
url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_explosion
title=Car bomb kills top Lebanese general
first=Sam F.
last=Ghattas
publisher=Associated Press
date=2007-12-12]

Gen Hajj was tipped to become army chief if General Michel Suleiman was made president to remedy a political crisis in 2007.

Military career

He entered the military academy in 1972, graduating in 1975. He fought against the Israeli occupation in South Lebanon and was then transferred to head positions north of the Litani during the 1980s. In the 1988-89 war he fought against Syrian forces assaulting the “free zones” of West Beirut. He gained notoriety during the 15-week offensive against Palestinian Fatah al-Islam in northern Lebanon in 2007, specifically during the assault on Nahr al-Bared.

December 12, 2007 bomb attack

A bomb attack in the Christian town of Baabda, in a high security area, which is home not only to the presidential palace, but to the ministry of defence, several embassies and homes of senior politicians, on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut killed four people. The general was among those killed.

Honors and Medals

* Medar of War
* Order of the Wounded
* National Cedar Medal of Honor
* Lebanese Order of Merit (3rd degree)
* Order of National Unity
* Order of the Dawn of the South
* Lebanese Order of Merit (1st class)
* National Cedar Medal
* Medal of Loyalty
* Cedar Medal of National Honor
* Commended by the Army Commander over 24 times. [http://www.tayyar.org/tayyar/articles.php?article_id=37051&type=news]

External links

* [http://www.francoiselhajj.net A Tribute to Francois al-Hajj]
* [http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/12/lebanon_mourns.php Lebanon mourns slain army General Francois al-Hajj]

* [http://Rmaich.com We mourn our own, Brigadier General Francois Elias Hajj and Sergeant First Class Khairallah Hadwan who perished with him.]

References