Before stepping down, he appointed another Maronite Christian, Lebanese Armed Forces Commanding General Michel Aoun, as acting Prime Minister, as was his right under the Lebanese constitution of 1943.

In May 1991, the militias ( with the important exception of Hizballah ) were dissolved, and the Lebanese Armed Forces began to slowly rebuild themselves as Lebanon's only major non-sectarian institution.

Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted several elections, most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces ( LAF ) have extended central government authority over about two-thirds of the country.

After the election of then-commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces Émile Lahoud as President in 1998 following Hrawi's extended term as President, Salim al-Hoss again served as Prime Minister.

The Lebanese Armed Forces ( LAF ) ( Arabic: القوات المسلحة اللبنانية | Al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥa al-Lubnāniyya ) or Forces Armées Libanaises in French, also known as the Lebanese Army according to its official Website ( Arabic: الجيش اللبناني or " Armée libanaise " in French, is the military of the Republic of Lebanon.

The motto of the Lebanese Armed Forces is " Honor, Sacrifice, Loyalty " ( Arabic: " شرف · تضحية · وفاء "-Sharaf. Tadhia. Wafa < sup >< sub >'</ sub ></ sup >).

The Lebanese Armed Forces Emblem consists of a Lebanon Cedar tree surrounded by two laurel leaves, positioned above the symbols of the three branches: the ground forces represented by the two swords, the navy represented by an anchor, and the air force represented by two wings.

The Lebanese Armed Forces ' primary missions include defending Lebanon and its citizens against external aggression, maintaining internal stability and security, confronting threats against the country's vital interests, engaging in social development activities and undertaking relief operations in coordination with public and humanitarian institutions.

Later in 1926, the Lebanese First Sharp Shooters Unit was created out of the Special Troops of the Levant ; it is considered to be a direct precursor to the Lebanese Armed Forces ( LAF ).

The majority of the Lebanese Armed Forces remained a part of the French Army in Lebanon.

This was the first major combat operation for the Lebanese Armed Forces under the Independent Lebanese Government.

The Lebanese Armed Forces ' strength lies in their ground forces which is by far the largest of the three branches of the military.

To ensure the effectiveness of such an elite force, many Commandos are sent overseas to nations such as the US, UK and France to receive extra training in specialized areas that the Lebanese Armed Forces are unable to provide, due to a lack of resources.

The Lebanese Air Force is the air force branch of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

At the request of Lebanese President Hrawi, the Syrian military took joint action with the Lebanese Armed Forces on 13 October 1990, to oust rebel Gen. Michel Aoun who had defied efforts at reconciliation with the legitimate Government of Lebanon.

# REDIRECT Lebanese Armed Forces

In May 1991, the militias ( with the important exception of Hezbollah ) were dissolved, and the Lebanese Armed Forces began to slowly rebuild themselves as Lebanon's only major non-sectarian institution.

On January 24, 2002, Elie Hobeika, another former Lebanese Forces figure associated with the Sabra and Shatilla massacres who later served in three cabinets and the parliament, was assassinated in a car bombing in Beirut.

Parliament voted for the release of the former Lebanese Forces warlord Samir Geagea in the first session since election were held in the spring of 2005.

The Free Patriotic Movement, The Kataeb Party, also known as the Phalange Party, the National Bloc, National Liberal Party, Lebanese Forces and the Guardians of the Cedars ( now outlawed ) each have their own base among Christians and it's controversial as to which group has the largest popularity.

In 1948, the Lebanese Third Sharp Shooters Regiment fought Israeli Forces occupying the Lebanese village of Malkieh in the northern Galilee and captured it, and that by the orders of Lebanese defense minister then, Emir Majid Arslan II.

A Lebanese Moslem told about its existence and application in the Islamic tradition as the `` divine law '', while a C.A.I.P. member who has been working in close association with delegates of the new U.N. nations told of its widespread recognition on the African continent.

In Lebanon, the right-wing Guardians of the Cedars, a fiercely nationalistic ( mainly Christian ) political party which opposes the country's ties to the Arab world, is agitating for " Lebanese " to be recognized as a distinct language from Arabic and not merely a dialect, and has even advocated replacing the Arabic alphabet with a revival of the ancient Phoenician alphabet, which lacks a number of characters to write typical Arabic phonemes present in Lebanese, and lost by Phoenician ( and Hebrew ) in the second millennium BC.

It has been active as a paramilitary organization representing Lebanon's Catholic Maronites since 1936, played a major role in the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990, perpetrated the Sabra and Shatila massacre of 1982 and held the presidency of Lebanon from 1982-1988.

Hezbollah, which started with only a small militia, has grown to an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite television-station, and programs for social development.

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese political analyst, argues that although Zionism has influenced Hezbollah's anti-Judaism, " it is not contingent upon it " because Hezbollah's hatred of Jews is more religiously motivated than politically motivated.

Hezbollah has relied also on funding from the Shi ' ite Lebanese Diaspora in West Africa, the United States and, most importantly, the Triple Frontier, or tri-border area, along the junction of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil.

The UN has certified Israel's pullout, and regards the Shebaa Farms as occupied Syrian territory, while Lebanon and Syria have stated they regard the area as Lebanese territory.

Eight months after Syria withdrew from Lebanon under intense domestic and international outrage over the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri the UN investigation has yet to be completed.

The Lebanese court system has three levels — courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and the court of cassation.

Burgeoning capital inflows have generated foreign payments surpluses, and the Lebanese pound has remained relatively stable.

A recent Russian promise to supply Lebanon with T-90 tanks has been in discussion since the Lebanese Defense Minister's last visit to Russia on December 16, 2008.

* 1986 – Iran-Contra Affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been secretly selling weapons to Iran in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

* Origanum vulgare syriacum (= O. maru, Syrian oregano, Lebanese oregano, za ' atar ) has larger leaves that vary in colors ranging from pale green to grayish.

Slovenia also has peacekeepers with the UN at Naharya Ogl, Israel, on the Lebanese border.

Syrian forces have been accused of involvement in that murder, as well as continued meddling in Lebanese affairs, and an international investigation into the Hariri killing and several subsequent bomb attacks has been launched by the UN.

* November 3 – Iran – Contra affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret, in order to secure the release of 7 American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

" The term has also been used to describe the relationship between Lebanon and Syria, as Syria has been accused of intervening in Lebanese political affairs.

Dakar has a large Lebanese community ( concentrated in the import-export sector ) that dates to the 1920s, a community of Moroccan business people, as well as Mauritanian, Cape Verdean, and Guinean communities.

Modern DNA evidence has provided evidence that most of the world's Jews, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese, have a common ancestral lineage in the Levant, which can be traced to a common ancestral population that inhabited the Middle East some four thousand years ago.

Whilst Middle Eastern cooking in particular Lebanese has grown in popularity from its traditional enclaves in London.

PFLP-GC is considered very close to Syria, and has in effect acted as a Syrian proxy force in Lebanon both during the Lebanese Civil War ( 1975 – 90 ), and after the Syrian occupation of Lebanon after the war.