Back دولة لبنان الحر Arabic Svobodný Libanon Czech État du Liban libre French מדינת לבנון החופשית HE Negara Lebanon Merdeka ID Stato del Libano Libero Italian Vrijstaat Libanon Dutch Enklaven NB Estado Livre do Líbano Portuguese Государство Свободный Ливан Russian
State of Free Lebanon دولة لبنان الحرة Dawlat Lubnān al-Ḥurra | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–1984 | |||||||||
 Map of the Free Lebanese State at its greatest extent | |||||||||
| Status | Client state of Israel | ||||||||
| Capital | Marjayoun | ||||||||
| Common languages | •Hebrew (Minority) | ||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||
| Demonym(s) | South Lebanese | ||||||||
| Government | Christian republic (de facto) | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1979–1984 | Saad Haddad | ||||||||
| Historical era | Lebanese Civil War | ||||||||
• Declared | 18 April 1979 | ||||||||
| 1982–(1985) | |||||||||
• Death of Saad Haddad | 14 January 1984 | ||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 238.8 km2 (92.2 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• | 150,000 (est.) | ||||||||
| Currency | Lebanese pound (LBP) Old Israeli shekel (IS) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Lebanon | ||||||||
The State of Free Lebanon[1] (Arabic: دولة لبنان الحرة, Dawlat Lubnān al-Ḥurra) was an unrecognized separatist country in Lebanon. On 18 April 1979, Lebanese military officer Saad Haddad proclaimed the independence of a "Free Lebanon" out of the southernmost territory of Lebanon, amidst the hostilities of the Lebanese Civil War.[2] Haddad was the founding commander of the South Lebanon Army, a quasi-military that aimed to serve the political interests of Lebanon's Maronite Christians during the conflict.
Though Free Lebanon garnered no international recognition, it received support from neighbouring Israel; the South Lebanon Army and the Israel Defense Forces had established a working alliance with each other during the 1978 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Despite being further bolstered by the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the authority of Free Lebanon rapidly deteriorated following Haddad's death in 1984.
In the post-Haddad era, Maronite governance continued in the form of the South Lebanon security belt administration, which remained intact under the umbrella of the 1985–2000 Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. Over the course of the South Lebanon conflict, the Maronite administration and the South Lebanon Army operated under Israel's supervision, ultimately collapsing upon the Israeli withdrawal in 2000.
- ^ Jabbra, Joseph G.; Jabbra, Nancy W. (10 August 1983). "Lebanon: Gateway to Peace in the Middle East?". International Journal. 38 (4): 577–612. doi:10.2307/40202202. JSTOR 40202202.
- ^ "feb2b". Archived from the original on 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2014-11-22.