View of the ceremony in Zgharta. Photo provided by Michel Moawad’s press office.
The family of assassinated former President Rene Moawad and the families of those killed with him gathered Sunday in Zgharta to mark the thirty-sixth anniversary of the attack that claimed their lives on Nov. 22, 1989.
On that day, just 17 days after his election, President Moawad had just participated in the 48th Independence Day celebrations and was heading to Ramlet al-Baida when an explosion struck his convoy, killing him instantly.
The ceremony in Zgharta was held under the patronage of President Joseph Aoun, represented by Justice Minister Adel Nassar. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri were also represented.
On this occasion, Michel Moawad, MP and son of the former president, said that this "explosion of a convoy" was "the explosion of an opportunity and a project," stressing that his father was killed because he wanted "a sovereign, free and independent Lebanon, a state for all its citizens, and not a farm for some and a battleground for others." He added that "his martyrdom marked a turning point that plunged Lebanon into 36 years of tutelage, dominance, assassinations, destruction of institutions, economic collapse and emigration."
In this context, Michel Moawad said that Lebanon today faces "a historic opportunity to reverse the situation," after the fall of the rhetoric of "resistance" that handed the country over to all sorts of abuses, and after reality has prevailed: "weapons outside the state have never been a deterrent against Israel, but instead have prevented the building of the state, destroyed the economy, and deprived the Lebanese of security and prosperity," he emphasized.
He insisted that "the state is the only choice," stressing the need for "negotiations conducted exclusively by the state with Israel first, but also with Syria and Iran, in order to free Lebanon from the spiral of war that has been imposed on it for decades" and "to resolve outstanding problems with its surroundings, based on the Constitution, sovereignty and national interest, away from all guardianship or alignment."
Rene Moawad was the first president after the Taif Agreement. A strong advocate of national reconciliation after the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), he had strained relations with the regime of Hafez al-Assad. He staunchly demanded the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanese territory, in accordance with the provisions of the Taif Agreement.
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