Muhammad Assem Qanso ( ar, عاصم قانصوه, born 1937 in
Baalbek
Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...
) is a
Lebanese politician. He is a former leader of the
Lebanese Ba'ath Party.
Political career
Qanso joined the Lebanese Ba'ath in 1953. During the
Lebanese war, the Lebanese Ba'ath was divided into two hostile groups: a
pro-Iraqi group and a
pro-Syrian group. Qanso is staunchly pro-Syrian.
Relations between the
Kataeb Party
The Kataeb Party ( ar, حزب الكتائب اللبنانية '), also known in English as the Phalanges, is a Christian political party in Lebanon. The party played a major role in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). In decline in the lat ...
and the Ba'ath Party improved when on the orders of
Karim Pakradouni
Karim Pakradouni ( ar, كريم بقرادوني hy, Քերիմ Բագրատունի) (born 18 August 1944) is a Lebanese attorney and politician of Armenians in Lebanon, Armenian origin. He was influential in Kataeb Party heading it for some p ...
(the leader of the Kataeb Party) and Qanso agreed to establish a committee between the two parties to discuss Lebanese and Arab politics. Relations improved further when the Syrian Ba'athist government increased its contacts with the Kataeb Party. During the Lebanese civil war, the Lebanese parliament formed the National Dialogue Committee in 1975; Qanso was a National Dialogue Committee representative. Qanso opposed the notion that the resignation of
Suleiman Frangieh
Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh, last name also spelled ''Frangié,'' ''Franjieh,'' or ''Franjiyeh'' (, 15 June 1910 – 23 July 1992), was a Lebanese Maronite politician who was President of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976.
Early life and education
Sulei ...
, the
President of Lebanon
The President of the Lebanese Republic ( ar, رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية, rayiys aljumhuriat allubnania; french: Président de la République Libanaise) is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliame ...
, would end the conflict.
Following the death of
Hafez al-Assad
Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1 ...
in 2000, notable figures such as
Abdul Halim Khaddam
Abdul Halim Khaddam ( ; ar, عبد الحليم خدام; 15 September 1932 – 31 March 2020) was a Syrian politician who was Vice President of Syria and "High Commissioner" to Lebanon from 1984 to 2005. He was long known as a loyalist of Hafez ...
and
Ghazi Kanaan
Ghazi Kanaan ( ar, غازي كنعان; 1942 – 12 October 2005), also known as Abu Yo'roub, was Syria's interior minister from 2004 to 2005, and long-time head of Syria's security apparatus in Lebanon. His violent death during an investigat ...
, supported
Rafic Hariri
Rafic Bahaa El Deen Al Hariri ( ar, رفيق بهاء الدين الحريري; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese business tycoon and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from ...
against
Émile Lahoud
Émile Jamil Lahoud (born 12 January 1936) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 16th president of Lebanon from 1998 to 2007. His main foreign-policy achievement was to end the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon in May 2000, which was ...
, the then sitting President of Lebanon, during the
2000 general election. Qanso supported Khaddam and Kanaan's position, and declared during a parliamentary session "there is no zaim
eaderbut Rafik Hariri."
On a later occasion, he stated: "It was a message to Lahoud that, if he tried to break Hariri, Kanaan would break Lahoud."
He later changed his position and supported to extend Lahoud's mandate, and Qanso began criticising the opposition. Qanso warned Walid Jumblat that "you are not out of reach of our militants".
Jumblat replied by stating it was the Ba'ath Party which had ordered the assassination of his father,
Kamal Jumblatt
Kamal Fouad Jumblatt ( ar, كمال فؤاد جنبلاط; 6 December 1917 – 16 March 1977) was a Lebanese politician who founded the Progressive Socialist Party. He led the National Movement during the civil war against the Lebanese Front. H ...
.
2009 election and parliamentarian
There were discussions within the Ba'ath Party if Qanso was to give up his candidacy in the
Baalbek-Hermel electoral district to
Fayez Shukr, the leader of the Ba'ath Party. Qanso announced his candidacy for a seat in the Baalbek-Hermel electoral district in April 2009. In the
2009 parliamentary election, the Ba'ath Party won two seats as part of the
March 8 Alliance
The March 8 Alliance ( ar, تحالف 8 آذار, taḥāluf 8 adhār}) is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that are united by their pro-Syrian stance and their opposition to the March 14 Alliance. I ...
; Qanso and
Kassem Hachem. Qanso was elected to parliament in the
Baalbek-Hermel district.
The
United States Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
led by
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
announced an extension of its travel ban and asset freeze against those seeking “to undermine Lebanon’s legitimate and democratically elected government.” Qanso was amongst those effected by the extension of sanctions. The Ba'ath Party which supports
Najib Mikati
Najib Azmi Mikati ( ar, نجيب عزمي ميقاتي; born 24 November 1955) is a Lebanese politician and businessman, and three-time Prime Minister of Lebanon whose current term began in September 2021. He also serves as the acting President ...
, the then Prime Minister of Lebanon, claimed, through Qanso, that it "should have been represented in the
ikatigovernment, just like the
Syrian Social Nationalist Party
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) or is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present ...
”.
Syrian Civil War
Qanso supports the position of the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
which condemned the use of violence by the Ba'athist government, but which also called for ending the violence and holding those of fomenting the violence accountable. The decision to expel Syria from the
Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
was, according to Qanso, an American plot against Syria. Qanso condemned the Arab League sanctions towards Syria, and compared them to "complementary to the US plot against Syria, which targets its oil wealth." In an interview with
MTV Lebanon
Murr Television, marketed and known as MTV Lebanon, is a Lebanese television station based in Naccache, Metn District.
History
Founded in 1991 by Gabriel Murr, a Lebanese businessman and politician.
MTV was shut down in 2002 as it was found ...
Qanso accused a conspiracy centered around Lebanon First bloc MP
Okab Sakr
Okab Sakr or Oakab Saker ( ar, عقاب صقر; born 4 March 1975) is a Lebanese journalist and politician who lost his father before he was born during the beginning of the Lebanese civil war. Sakr won a seat in the Lebanese parliament on 7 Jun ...
,
Hani Hammoud, and
Saad Hariri
Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri ( ar, سعد الدين رفيق الحريري, translit=Saʿd ad-Dīn Rafīq al-Ḥarīrī; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese-Saudi politician who served as the prime minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and 2016 ...
, former
Prime Minister of Lebanon
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, officially the President of the Council of Ministers, is the head of government and the head of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president of Lebanon, with the consent ...
, of fomenting the uprising in Syria. He further claimed that there was no good reason for the Assad government to resign.
Qanso tried to persuade Mikati to expel
Maura Connelly, the
United States Ambassador to Lebanon
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States and other Heads of Mission to Lebanon.
* George Wadsworth (1942–1947) – Consul General, later promoted to Envoy. Also was head of mission to Syria but resident in Beirut.
* Lowell C. Pink ...
, from the country in late 2011 because of the United States position towards Syria during the ongoing war.
In the beginning of January 2012 Qanso claimed that
al-Qaida
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countri ...
had infiltrated more than 20 political organisations in Lebanon, this was in deep contrast to what Mikati stated when he claimed that Lebanon was "al-Qaida free".
Qanso further claimed that "If Syria falls, the last resistance bastion will turn into a state similar to that of Egypt or Libya and will become a breeding ground for Salafis and
he_Muslim_Brotherhood.html" ;"title="Muslim_Brotherhood.html" ;"title="he Muslim Brotherhood">he Muslim Brotherhood">Muslim_Brotherhood.html" ;"title="he Muslim Brotherhood">he Muslim Brotherhood
On 30 January Qanso stated his believes that "The vast majority of [Syrian] people are with the Ba'ath Party that is tasked with protecting Syrian President Bashar Assad.”
At the same time he announced that the Lebanese Ba'ath Party would hold a conference on 7–8 February 2012 in Syria to discuss and approve the reform package which is planned to be introduced by
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...
's government.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qanso, Assem
1937 births
Living people
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Lebanon Region politicians
Members of the Parliament of Lebanon
Lebanese Shia Muslims
Government ministers of Lebanon
Lebanese Arab nationalists