From Israel to Damascus 

CHAPTER 13: The Tripartite Agreement

Until now, Elie Hobeika accepted  sharing his stakes with Geagea and Pakraduni. With his fiendish mind, he used them, but kept the two of them out of his innermost circle. His Man was Michel Murr  -  the Bank, the Golden Goose egg, the new Elias Shartuni .

Flanked by Michel Murr and Michel Samaha,   The Middle-Man between him and the Syrians, Hobeika carried out an internal Intifada, to get even with Geagea and Pakraduni, create a political disruption and hold the reins of the Executive Committee.

Hobeika had a sixth sense and did not trust any one. He had sensed that Pakraduni was not forthright enough for his liking.  On one occasion, Hobeika hired an expert locksmith, Abdo Jawharji, and in my presence broke into Pakraduni’s office. He was looking for incriminating documents and found it.  Hobeika found a letter signed by Samir and Karim commissioning Gemayel to intervene with Syria in the name of the Lebanese Forces to stop flaring up the situation. He was enraged and had to act now.

Hobeika had previously manipulated President Chamoun’s National Liberal Party.  Hobeika’s intervention caused a secession within its Politbureau.  The secession was led by Elie Assouad and Charles Ghostine.

The structure being set and fortified, Hobeika pressed the E. Christian members to elect him Chairman.  It was May 9, 1985.  Disregarding all members, he bluntly announced that the Arab option for Lebanon was the only one and Syria was the fundamental part of it. It came like a thunderbolt.

Hobeika, the Intelligence Chief, was short-circuiting Gemayel, the President, Geagea, the military man and Pakraduni, the Media Chief.  Hobeika was now in absolute control of  all decisions for the Christians.  Since then, Pakraduni’s office was moved cheek-by-jawl with his, to keep a close eye on him.

It was time for Syria to make one step further to destabilize the Christian ranks. They would bring their old and new allies together in a dramatic reconciling involving Soleiman Franjieh and Elie Hobeika. It was prepared by Karim Pakraduni.  Hobeika, the commando leader, who pulled the trigger and killed Tony Franjieh, was going to be officially received by the Kataeb-hater,  the Patriarch, Soleiman Franjieh into his Syrian protected fiefdom, Zghorta/Ehden.

The Syrians made sure the visit would be important and successful so that Hobeika would come out as the only decision-maker in the Eastern regions. Though outwardly Samir approved of the visit, he increased his plotting against his ally. While Hobeika was busy up in the North, Geagea bought off Maroun Mashaalani.  Maroun Mashaalani was one of Hobeika’s most loyal supporters.  Geagea instigated Mashaalani to cause trouble in order to weaken Hobeika’s position and prove that he was not the strong man he pretended to be and did not truly control the ground.

Clashes broke out between Mashaalani and Zouein in Ashrafieh/Shahrour in the barracks attached to the Al Amn.  The result was three militiamen dead. It was the first sparkle. The film was rolling and so were treacheries. Samir Geagea organized a popular rally to welcome Hobeika triumphantly after his historical visit to Zghorta. The Shahrouri incident was put aside, but suspicion was growing. It was kill or die.

Pakraduni and Geagea had patched up their differences with Gemayel, as Hobeika, with Michel Samaha and Assad Shaftari pushed forward the elaboration of the « Tripartite Accord» with Damascus. Samaha was delivering information to Hobeika that Amin Gemayel was getting closer to his objective with the Syrians. The race was at crisis point.

Elie Hobeika was getting pretty nervous, although he never showed it. He appeared in reserved and cool in public, smiling and cheerful wherever he went.  At this time, he was a modern Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.   With his two personalities, he led a double life.  One for the masses, and one for himself.  Nobody except myself and a few others,  knew what he was up to.  Nothing leaked.  The « Arab telephone « was dumb for the first time in Lebanon.  To this day, I wonder who and how rumors stopped circulating altogether, giving him a free hand in his new nasty enterprise to crush the Christian people of Lebanon.  He would let nothing, a slip of a tongue or a gun stop him.  The Tripartite Accord was at short-range, and within striking distance.
The shameful Tripartite Accord between the Lebanese Forces, Amal and the Druze was sponsored by Syria politically and Rafik Hariri financially.  The text had been cooked up during secret meetings held at intervals between Rafik Hariri, Jean Ghanem, one of Bashir’s lieutenants, and a Lebanese Forces executive committee member, and a prominent journalist-editorialist from Al Nahar Arabic language daily paper known for his antagonism for Bashir, and the Christian options, Sarkis Naoum, and the middleman Michel Samaha as well as Johnny Abdo former Lebanese army Intelligence chief.

I was present at all the preliminary meetings as Hobeika’s close bodyguard and trustful « watchdog».  There were three major top-secret meetings.  One was on the island of Crete in Greece, it lasted for three days.  It was attended by Hariri, Hobeika and the close counsels.  Another one was held at Hariri’s residence in the suburbs of Paris.  I even remember a funny incident during the flight aboard Hariri’s private jet.  I had noticed that all the porcelains crockery and sets of utensils were stamped with Hariri’s initials R.H., which happen to be my own R for Robert and  H for Hatem.  So I decided to steal as much as I could lay my hands on.  Hobeika noticed and slanged me.  So I put everything right back where it belonged sorrowfully.

Meetings were also held in Beirut.  One was in Ashrafieh and another in Vivian Debbas’ residence in Naccache in the Northern Matn.  At the end of each of these meetings, whether in Lebanon or abroad,  Samsonite attache-cases full of United States dollars were offered to each of the participants.

Being a messenger, I also discovered that the military part was drafted by General Michel Aoun himself, and that the bandmaster, Michel Murr bought off everyone, even Aoun to whom he offered a house in Naccache. The political part was drafted by Sarkis Naoum and Sejaan Azzi, Michel Samaha.  It was  reviewed and revised by former foreign minister and noted attorney, Fuad Butros. Toto (Antoine) Bridi, a Greek orthodox like Murr and Butros, and the latter protege were the link.

When everything was ready, Hobeika judged that it was high time to make the decision public.  He held a gigantic rally at the Casino du Liban in the Kessrouan.  It was a bright and sunny Sunday, but a bloody Sunday for the Lebanese Christians who were once  more were about to witness the fiercest battle between the Christian factions.

At the same time, the Kataeb Party, under the chairmanship of Dr. Elie Karameh, the Kataeb Party’s President since Sheikh Pierre’s death, and an unshakable supporter and close friend of Sheikh Pierre and Amin Gemayel, organized a popular rally in the Matn.  Hobeika could not accept anything to divert attention from him, so he ordered a boobie trapped car to be placed in Nahr Al Kalb and explode at the passage of his vehicle.  The boobie trapped car was spotted before it went off by Amin’s special security squad.  Karameh was saved but the rupture between Elie Hobeika, the Kataeb Party and Amin Gemayel was consummated.  The worst was yet to come.  The Christians were so far away from September 1982 and from the innocence and pureness of the two-year war.