Lahad, Antoine

(1927- )

   Christian Lebanese commander of the South Lebanese Army (SLA) from January 1984, following the death of the army's founder, Major Saad Georges Haddad. One of La-had's first moves as commander was to change his force's name from the Christian Free Lebanon Militia to the South Lebanese Army to reflect the fact that it was not just for Christians but for all Lebanese who opposed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Syrian presence in the country. With the reduced influence of the PLO in Lebanon following Operation Peace for Galilee (see WAR IN LEBANON [1982]), the primary activity for Lahad and the SLA became cooperating with the Israel Defense Forces in combating the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah and other Shi'ite Muslim militias operating in and around the security zone. In the late 1990s, Lahad expressed reservations about a proposed unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the security zone, fearful of reprisal attacks against SLA fighters and their families by rival Lebanese forces. When Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, Lahad went into exile and traveled frequently between Israel and France. Currently, Lahad lives primarily in Israel, where he published his autobiography, In the Midst of a Storm in Hebrew in 2004.