Saeb Salam

Saeb Salam
صائب سلام
Salam in 1952
8thPrime Minister of Lebanon
In office 14 September 1952 – 18 September 1952
Preceded by	Nazem Akkari
Succeeded by	Abdallah Yafi
In office 1 May 1953 – 16 August 1953
Preceded by	Khaled Chehab
Succeeded by	Abdallah Yafi
In office 2 August 1960 – 31 October 1961
Preceded by	Ahmed Daouk
Succeeded by	Rachid Karami
In office 13 October 1970 – 25 April 1973
Preceded by	Rachid Karami
Succeeded by	Amin Hafez
Personal details
Born	(1905-01-17)17 January 1905 Beirut,Ottoman Empire
Died	21 January 2000(2000-01-21)(aged 95) Beirut,Lebanon
Nationality	Lebanese
Political party	Independent
Spouse	Tamima Mardam Beik
Children	Amra, Surreya, Faisal, Amr Salam,Tammam Salam
Parent	Salim Ali Salam(father)
Religion	Sunni Islam

Saeb Salam(17 January 1905 – 21 January 2000) (Arabic:صائب سلام) was aLebanesepolitician, who served asPrime Ministersix times between 1952 and 1973.Following his death, the Lebanese dailyAs-Safirdescribed Salam as "most successful in dealing with the media and in presenting a particular image of himself to people on a daily basis through wearing his customary carnation... and expounding unforgettable slogans", and that he was Lebanon's most popular prime minister after independence leaderRiad Al Solh.A significant aspect of Salam was that, unlike other Lebanese leaders, he did not act as a chief over a particular area in the country. Salam fiercely advocated the unity of Lebanon.

Early life and education

Salim Ali SalamwithKing Faisal I of Iraqin London along with Salim's son Saeb Salam and daughtersAnbaraand Rasha, 1925

Salam was the son ofSalim Ali Salam,the scion of a prominentSunni Muslimfamily, who was a prominent politician both underOttomanrule and then during theFrench Mandate,being a member of the Ottoman parliament, and an import-export businessman.He was born on 17 January 1905.He held a bachelor's degree in economics.

His family was liberal in regard to religion and his sister,Anbara Salam Khalidy,was the first Lebanese Muslim woman, who did not wear the veil in public.

Career

Salam (left) and allyKamal Jumblatt(right) in theDamascusoffice ofSyrianPresidentShukri al-Quwatli,1958

The younger Salam got his first taste of politics in 1941, when he started campaigning against French and British mandates in theLevantandPalestine.He joined in this endeavour byAbdel-Hamid Karami,alegislatorfromTripoli.In 1943, Salam was elected to the National Assembly from a Beirut constituency. After foundingMiddle East Airlinesin 1945, Salam was appointed Minister of the Interior in 1946 - his first cabinet position.Six years later, he became Prime Minister for the first time, on 14 September 1952. His administration lasted only four days;under the pressure of strikes and demonstrations,PresidentBechara El Khourywas forced to resign. Salam's government resigned too. He was recalled on 1 May 1953 by the new president,Camille Chamoun(whose election Salam had supported); this time, his term of office lasted 106 days, until 16 August. The cabinet was formed to oversee the general elections.

Salam was appointed oil minister by prime ministerAbdallah Yafiin 1956, and negotiated deals theAramcoandTapelinecompanies to connect theZahraniandBaddawirefineries with oilfields inSaudi ArabiaandIraq.President Chamoun's support for theBritish,French,andIsraeliinvasion ofEgyptduring theSuez Crisis,however, led both Yafi and Salam to resign in protest.He participated in demonstrations in 1958 that followed, was wounded, and was subsequently placed under arrest while recovering in hospital. He was released after a five-day hunger strike, however.

In theparliamentary electionof 1957, Salam lost his seat, as did Yafi,Rashid KaramiandKamal Jumblatt.Allegations ofvote riggingwere never proven, but that the allegation that the constituencies weregerrymanderedwas little disputed. Yafi and Salam led a strike upon these events.On 25 September 1957, Salam, Yafi andHussein Oweini,who was also former prime minister, were indicted due to their alleged involvement in organizing an armed coup and rioting.

Salam, Karami, Yafi and Jumblatt subsequently formed an opposition bloc espousingArab nationalismand sympathetic to the policies ofGamal Abdel Nasser,the president of the newly formedUnited Arab Republic,a union betweenEgyptandSyria.The opposition's consternation at President Chamoun's reported plans to seek a second term in office and to join the pro-WesternBaghdad Pactled to the outbreak of five months ofcivil strifein 1958 between the opposition's mostly Muslim supporters and Chamoun's mostly Christian supporters. The crisis only ended with an agreement by Chamoun not to seek another term and the election of GeneralFuad Chehab,who was perceived as a moderate, as president in September; Salam declared the end of the violence with what was to become his trademark slogan: "No winner, no loser." His attitude at that time made him a communal hero.

Salam with Egypt's presidentGamal Abdel Nasserin Demascus, 1959

Salam became prime minister again on 2 August 1960, and remained in office until 31 October 1961. Salam held the office ofdefense ministerthree times, last time in 1961.He broke with President Chehab, however, over what he saw as the granting of undue powers to the police. During his mandate as a prime minister he participated at the1st Summit of the Non-Aligned MovementinBelgrade,FPR Yugoslaviamaking Lebanon one of the founding members of theNon-Aligned Movement.Throughout the 1960s he opposed the "police state" that he accused Chehab and his chosen successor,Charles Helou,of trying to establish, and in 1968 he spoke out against political interference by military intelligence. His opposition to Chehabist rule intensified, and in 1970, he helped to assemble a parliamentary coalition that electedSuleiman Frangiehto the presidency, by one vote, over the Chehabist candidateElias Sarkis.

Frangieh appointed Salam prime minister for the fourth time on 13 October 1970.This administration, which lasted until 25 April 1973, was his longest. He fell out with Frangieh and resigned as prime minister in the wake of an Israeli commando raid in Beirut, which killed threePalestinianleaders, in protest against Frangieh's refusal to dismiss thearmycommander, GeneralIskandar Ghanem,for negligence.Salam declared that he would not accept the post of prime minister again. Duringthe civil warSalam's motto was"One Lebanon, not two."

Out of office, Salam remained influential. In the wake of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, he mediated between theUnited Statesenvoy,Philip Habiband thePLOchairmanYasser Arafat,securing the removal of the Palestinian military presence in Lebanon. He opposed the election to the Presidency ofBachir Gemayel,but was reconciled to him after the election and began working with him on a number of reform proposals. When Gemayel was assassinated on 14 September of that year, without having taken office, Salam supported his brother,Amine Gemayel,for the Presidency and persuaded most MuslimNational Assemblymembers to vote for him. Salam retired from politics in 1992.

Exile and charity activities

In 1985, Salam went into exile inGeneva,Switzerland,after surviving two assassination attempts. He had angered theSyriangovernment and hardline Muslim groups with the conciliatory stands he had taken at peace conferences held at Geneva andLausannethe year before, and he did not feel safe to return to Lebanon until 1994. From exile, however, he played a key role in the negotiations that led to theTaif Agreementof 1989, which eventually led to the end of thecivil war.A noted philanthropist, Salam headedthe Makassed foundation,an educational and healthcare charity, from 1957 to 1982, when he was succeeded by his sonTammam.

Personal life

In addition to Tammam, Salam had two other sons Faisal and Amr, and two daughters with his wife, Tamima Mardam Bey,whom he married in 1941.Mardam Bey was ofSyrianorigin and hails fromDamascus.

Death

Salam died of a heart attack on 21 January 2000, 4 days after his 95th birthday.

See also

• 1958 Lebanon crisis
• Lebanese Civil War
• Lebanese Movement in Support of Fatah
• Mountain War (Lebanon)

External links

• Media related toSaeb Salamat Wikimedia Commons