Ibrahim Kulaylat (born 1940) is a Lebanese

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and head of the Independent Nasserist Movement (known as Al-Mourabitoun), established in 1957-58. He organized a multi-confessional militia, consisted specially of

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Muslims and left-wing

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. This militia numbered more than 3,000 fighters and took an active part in the Lebanese War of 1982 in alliance with the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...

(PLO) led by Yasser Arafat, also cooperating with the other left-wing parties to form the Lebanese National Movement against the parties of the Lebanese right with Christian majority. In 1982 al-Mourabitoun militia defended

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, besieged by the Israeli army over a period of 3 months. It continued its dogged resistance to the occupation up to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Lebanese capital. In 1985 his former allies in the Progressive Socialist Party and the

Amal Amal may refer to: * Amal (given name) * Åmål, a small town in Sweden * Amal Movement, a Lebanese political party ** Amal Militia, Amal Movement's defunct militia * Amal language of Papua New Guinea * Amal (film), ''Amal'' (film), 2007, directed ...

group, under pressure from the

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n government, took advantage of his exile in

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and turned against him after he had allied himself to the Lebanese Army. Since that time he chose exile and did not play a part in the Lebanese political scene. In 2001 his party was reorganised and renewed its alliances with the other Lebanese parties, but since the intensification of the political crisis in the Lebanon and following the murder of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, numerous rumours hinted at his return to the country.

External links

Mourabitoun official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kulaylat, Ibrahim Leaders of political parties Lebanese Arab nationalists Lebanese politicians Lebanese socialists Living people Nasserists Lebanese exiles 1940 births