Fouad Naffah

Born in Zouk Mikael, Keserwan on 1 March 1925, Naffah graduated from Université Saint-Joseph with a bachelor's degree in law in 1946. ==Political career==

He became involved in politics in 1951 and was elected as a member of parliament for Keserwan in 1960, and then re-elected in 1972. He was appointed Minister for Agriculture under the government of Prime Minister Saeb Salam and then served as Minister of Finance under Prime Minister Amin al-Hafez from 1972 to 1973, later as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Takieddin el-Solh. ==Career as Foreign Minister==

The former Lebanese ambassador to the United States and United Kingdom, Nadim Dimechkie, recalls in his mémoires the role played by Naffah at the Islamic Conference in Karachi in 1972. Dimechkie writes: "the majority of Lebanese feel perfectly at ease in their exchanges with all human beings, without consideration of colour, race or religion. I remember an event which took place at the start of the 1970s. At the Islamic conference in Karachi, the Bangladeshi delegation were absent because of a strong tension which opposed Dhaka in Karachi. The conference decided to send a delegation presided by the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs instead, a Maronite Christian, Mr. Fouad Naffah in order to play the mediator between the two disputing parties. It goes without saying that our minister saw full success in his mediation. This is not the only example of international mediation led by Lebanon, but as far as I can remember, this was the most spectacular and the most original". In July 1973, Naffah led a delegation to meet Syrian Foreign Minister Abdul-Halim Khaddam and Syrian Army Intelligence Chief Colonel Hikmat al-Shihabi. In January 1974, Naffah participated in a special Arab League mission to South America, seeking to clarify the position of different nations on the Arab-Israeli conflict, including that of Brazil. On 11 April 1974, the Kiryat Shmona massacre occurred in which eighteen people were killed in Israel by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israel responded with air strikes against villages in Southern Lebanon suspected of harbouring Palestinian commandos. The United Nations Security Council then adopted a resolution on 24 April that condemned Israel for its violation of Lebanese territory, but did not mention the attack at Kiryat Shmona. According to many Western diplomats, a draft text sponsored by Western powers had mentioned Kiryat Shmona but after the draft was discussed in Washington by Naffah and Henry Kissinger, US Secretary of State, it was returned with the reference deleted. He was then awarded the Sultan Kudarat decoration for his efforts at promoting understanding between the Philippines and the Islamic Conference. ==Political beliefs==

A strong believer in the Chehabist approach, he was a supporter of the Palestinian cause and believed the solution to the Palestinian question was integral to the solution of Lebanon's own political strife. He boycotted the 1992 elections and was subsequently elected Secretary-General of the Lebanese National Rally founded by President Amine Gemayel. ==Death and posthumous award==

Naffah died at the age of 92 on 9 April 2017. He was posthumously awarded the National Order of the Cedar, Lebanon's highest honour for great services rendered to the country, for acts of courage, devotion of great moral value and for years in public service. In an obituary by Samir Atallah, Naffah was commended as "a model politician" and for never using power to serve his own interests. Atallah described him as a "sincere and noble politician" and that with his loss, Lebanon "loses a role model in honest political work". ==References==