Michel Naim Aoun (, ; born 18 February 1935) is a Lebanese politician and former general who served as the 13th president of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 to 30 October 2022.
Born in Haret Hreik to a Maronite Christian family, Aoun joined the Military Academy in 1955 and graduated as an artillery officer in the Lebanese Army. In 1984, he became the youngest Commander of the Army, at the age of 49. On 22 September 1988, during the fourth phase of the Lebanese Civil War, the departing President Amine Gemayel appointed him as the interim Prime Minister of a military government after the parliament failed to elect a new president, and dismissed the current government headed by the Acting Prime Minister Selim Hoss. This controversial decision saw the rise of two rival governments contending for power at that time, with Aoun being supported mainly by Christians and Iraq, while the other being supported by Muslims and Syria.
Aoun declared the War of Liberation against Syrian Army forces on 14 March 1989, opposed the Taif Agreement, refused to recognize the newly elected presidents René Moawad and Elias Hrawi, clashed with the Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea, and survived an assassination attempt on 12 October 1990. On 13 October, the Syrian forces launched a decisive operation against Aoun, invading his strongholds including the Presidential Palace in Baabda and killing hundreds of Lebanese soldiers and civilians. Aoun fled to the French Embassy in Beirut where he declared his surrender and was later granted asylum in France where he lived in exile for 15 years.
In exile, Aoun founded the Free Patriotic Movement, and advocated for the Syria Accountability Act by testifying in the US Congress. In 2005, a chain of widespread demonstrations triggered by the assassination of Rafic Hariri erupted in Lebanon, resulted in the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country. On 7 May, Aoun returned to Lebanon.
Aoun was elected to the Parliament for the first time in the same year, while his party won 21 seats in the parliament, forming the largest Christian bloc, and second biggest bloc in the Parliament. In 2006, he signed a memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah, starting a major alliance that has remained ever since. Despite the bloody history with the regime of Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar al-Assad, Aoun visited Syria in 2008, ending his long rivalry with Damascus.
In 2016, Aoun reconciled with Geagea after signing the Maarab Agreement, and was endorsed by the Lebanese Forces, Future Movement, Progressive Socialist Party as well as Hezbollah to be elected the thirteenth president of Lebanon, succeeding Michel Suleiman. He was the oldest president of Lebanon to take office, at the age of 81.
In 2019, the country descended into chaos with a popular uprising, bringing millions of Lebanese in Lebanon and abroad to take to the streets, mainly caused by the liquidity crisis, political corruption and sectarianism.
Early years With family origins from Haret el Maknouniye, Jezzine, Aoun was born in the mixed Christian-Shiite suburb of Haret Hreik, to the south of Beirut. His father was Naim Aoun who worked as a butcher, while his mother was Marie Aoun, a Lebanese woman who was born in the United States. His family was generally poor.
In 1941, he was forced to leave the house where he was living, as it was occupied by British and Australian forces. He finished his secondary education at the College Des Frères Furn Al Chebbak in 1955 and finished a degree in Maths. He enrolled in the Military Academy as a cadet officer, and graduated as an artillery officer in the Lebanese Army three years later.
Military career After his graduation, Aoun joined the Second Artillery Regiment in 1958, and was sent to France to receive further military training at Châlons-sur-Marne. He finished it the following year, and was promoted to Second Lieutenant on 30 September.
He was serving during the failed coup of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party in 1961, and was decorated for that. He was trained at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, and became the Assistant of The Commander of the Second Artillery Battalion, the Commander of the Command and Service Company and Commander of the Administrative Detachment in 1970.
At the start of the civil war, Aoun was the commander of the Second Artillery Corps of the Army. He took part in the Tel al-Zaatar massacre, claiming that he developed and planned the siege of the camp and its storming. He directed the attack, which resulted in destruction of it, and the Palestinian refugees being displaced. In 1978, he went to France again for more military training at École Supérieure de Guerre.
In 1980, Aoun returned to Lebanon and was appointed later as the interim commander of the mainly Christian 8th Infantry Brigade, that is credited for protecting the Palestinian refugee camp of Borj Al Barajneh from the sinister fate of Sabra and Chatila, and fought against the pro-Syrian Druze and Palestinian militias at the Battle of Souk El Gharb during the Mountain War. During the Israeli invasion, Aoun's office was at the Museum Crossing.
He was promoted to General and appointed as the tenth Commander of the Armed Forces on 23 June 1984, succeeding General Ibrahim Tannous. At the age of 49 years, he was the youngest Commander since the establishment of the position.
According to French journalist Alain Ménargues, Aoun had strong relationships with Bachir Gemayel and Israel. He suggested that Aoun proposed to Gemayel signing a mutual recognition agreement between Lebanon and Israel along with a joint defense pact, and was accompanied by Israeli officers in his patrols. He also had a meeting with Israeli Minister of Defence Ariel Sharon.
Rival governments: 1988 On 22 September 1988, 15 minutes before the expiration of his term, the outgoing president Amine Gemayel appointed Aoun as Prime Minister, heading a military government to be formed by six members of the Martial Court, three of which are Christian and three are Muslims. He also dismissed the civilian administration of acting Prime Minister Salim al-Huss. The Muslims refused to serve, and submitted their resignations on the next day. Gemayel accuses Syria of forcing them to do so, claiming that they accepted their roles when he contacted them. He also says that he considered forming a cabinet of judges or politicians. Having failed to form a political caretaker government, and feeling that judges "can't defend themselves", he opted for a military cabinet. Indeed, Amine Gemayel had recognized that his own nemesis throughout his presidency, the militia his slain brother Bachir Gemayel had founded, the Lebanese Forces, would also attempt to undermine the authority of a caretaker government. Backed by Syria and its local allies, Al-Hoss declared his dismissal invalid. Two governments emerged, one civilian and mainly Muslim in West Beirut, headed by Hoss as the Acting Prime Minister, the other, military and Christian, in East Beirut, led by Michel Aoun as the Interim Prime Minister. Aoun held the additional portfolio of minister of defense.
Gemayel's move was of questionable validity, as it violated the unwritten National Pact of 1943, which reserved the position of prime minister for a Sunni Muslim. Gemayel argued, however, that as the National Pact also reserved the presidency for a Maronite Christian, and as the Prime Minister assumes the powers and duties of the President in the event of a vacancy, it would be proper to fill that office temporarily with a Maronite. Gemayel referenced the historical precedent of 1952, when General Fouad Chehab, a Christian Maronite, was appointed as prime minister of a transition government following the resignation of President Bechara El Khoury.
Liberation war against Syria: 1989
On 15 February 1989 General Aoun launched an offensive, with those Lebanese Army Brigades loyal to him (30% of whom were Sunni),Middle East International No 347, 31 March 1989, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Jim Muir pp.3,4 against Geagea's Lebanese Forces (LF) positions around Christian East Beirut. Nine days later, 24 February, with seventy people killed and the intervention of the Maronite Patriarchate the LF agreed to hand over to Aoun control of Beirut's port's fifth basin with its estimated $300,000 per month tax revenue. Suleiman Frangieh, in the north, also returned control of Ras Salaata port in Batroun DistrictMiddle East International No 345, 3 March 1989; Jim Muir pp.8,9 The following month, Aoun launched a blockade against the unregulated seaports south of Beirut at Jieh and Khalde. On 8 March 1989 Aoun's patrol boats intercepted a boat heading for PSP controlled port at Jieh. This precipitated a series of indiscriminate artillery barrages, with Amal shelling East Beirut harbour and Jouneh port, and Aoun's army brigades shelling Souk El Gharb. On the 12 March, Aoun ordered the closure of Beirut International Airport and two days later launched an hour-long bombardment of East Beirut, which killed 40 civilians.Middle East International No 346, 17 March 1989; Jim Muir pp.6,7 At the end of the month Aoun announced a ceasefire with the issue of the militia run ports unresolved. The area had seen the worst violence for three years, with over 90 people killed and several hundred wounded.Middle East International No 347, 31 March 1989; Jim Muir pp.3,4Middle East International No 390, 21 December 1990; Jim Muir p.12
In October 1989, Lebanese National Assembly members met to draw up the Taif Agreement in an attempt to settle the Lebanese conflict. This accord was later revealed to have been prepared two years earlier by Rafic Hariri. Aoun refused to attend, denounced the politicians who did so as traitors, and issued a decree dissolving the assembly. After the Taif accord was signed over his opposition, Aoun further denounced it for not appointing a date for the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon. After it signed the Taif Accord (in Taif, Saudi Arabia), the assembly met to elect René Moawad as president in November. Despite heavy-handed pressure from Syria to dismiss Aoun, Moawad relented; his presidency ended 17 days later when he was assassinated. Elias Hrawi was elected in his place. After assuming office as president, Hrawi appointed General Émile Lahoud as commander of the army and ordered Aoun out of the Presidential Palace. Aoun rejected his dismissal.
In February 1990 General Aoun launched an offensive against Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces (LF) in East Beirut. The three months of intermittent fighting caused more destruction of property in the Christian part of Beirut than the previous 15 years of civil war. It ended with the LF remaining in control of East Beirut, the harbour and Kisrawan province. Around 1000 people were killed and both East and West Beirut left without electricity and badly damaged water supply.Middle East International No 369, 16 February 1990; Jim Muir pp.5–6. No 375, 11 May 1990; Jim Muir pp.11–12