Pakraduni, Karim

Born in Beirut , in the Armenian quarter of Burj Hammoud . Karim Pakraduni’s father was an ethnic Armenian and a parishioner of the Armenian Apostolic Church , his mother was Lebanese and Maronite ^[1] . Minas Pakradunyan Sr. moved to Lebanon via Syria from Turkey . The family had no ties with local political circles ^[2] .

Karim Pakraduni adopted the religion of his mother and is considered to be a Latinized Armenian ^[3] . He received his secondary education at the French-speaking Jesuit College of Notre Dame de Jamhur . In 1968 he graduated from the University of St. Joseph . He studied law, history and political science. By profession, lawyer and political scientist.

In 1959 , as a teenager, Karim Pakraduni joined the phalangist party Kataib . He quickly advanced in party activism, in 1968 he headed the student organization of phalangists, and since 1970 he has been a member of the highest party leadership.

In Kataib Pakraduni took a special political position, generally not characteristic of the Gemayel party. As a half-Armenian, Lebanese nationalist and Maronite Catholic , he advocated active dialogue and cooperation with Arab political forces - on a common platform of right-wing radicalism and anti-communism . In 1969 , heading the Kataib student delegation, Pakraduni met with Yasser Arafat in Jordan ^[4] . The political line of Pakraduni was characterized as “Arabist”.

Despite this, Karim Pakraduni actively participated in the Lebanese civil war as a commander of right-wing Christian phalanx groups . Pakraduni was in the political leadership of the Lebanese Front coalition and the military command of the United Christian Police Lebanese Forces . During the battles, he worked closely with the Armenian troops, and did a lot to attract the right-wing Christians. He was an operational consultant to Bashir Gemayel , commander of the phalangist police and the Lebanese Forces. He supervised military cooperation with Armenians and political contacts with foreign Arab circles under Jemayel.

He was a political adviser to Lebanese President Ilyas Sarkis ( 1976 - 1982 ), also a Lebanese Armenian. Pakraduni was supposed to take a similar position under the elected president, Bashir Zhmayel, but he died as a result of the attack before taking office.

Palestinian sources rank Karim Pakraduni as members of the Sabra and Shatila massacres . Pakraduni himself categorically denies this. ^[5]

In the mid-1980s, Karim Pakraduni played a prominent role in the internecine struggle of the Lebanese Forces commanders. In 1985, he supported the rebellion of Ilyas Hobeika and Samir Jaajaa against Fuad Abu Nader . Then, in early 1986 , he took the side of Jaadjaa in an armed conflict with Hobeika. The next few years, until the end of the civil war, Pakraduni marched in alliance with Jaajaa ^[2] .

After the end of the civil war in 1990 , Syrian occupation was established over Lebanon. As an “Arabist,” Karim Pakraduni was not her adversary (it is interesting that Jaajaa, an ally of Pakraduni, took an anti-Syrian position, while Hobeika, their opponent, actively spoke on the Syrian side). But after the arrest of Samir Jaajaa in 1994, Pakraduni was forced to withdraw from politics for several years.

He resumed political activity in the late 1990s, when the Syrian authorities were fully convinced of his loyalty. In 1998, Pakraduni played a significant role in the election of Emil Lahoud , also from Lebanese Armenians, as president of Lebanon. He was a political adviser to President Lahoud, to a certain extent determined public policy.

In 2001 , with strong Syrian support, Karim Pakraduni was elected chairman of Kataib. Under his leadership, Kataib frankly focused on Damascus. This was contrary to the political tradition of Pierre and Bashir Gemayel, which caused dissatisfaction with many phalangists. At the same time, the period from 2001 to 2007 became the time of the greatest influence of the Armenian community of Lebanon: the Armenians held the posts of head of state and leader of a major Christian party. From 2003 to 2004, Karim Pakraduni served as Minister of State for Administrative Development in the Government of Rafik Hariri .

In 2005, the Cedar Revolution ended the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. In Kataib, supporters of Amin Zhmayel intensified, personifying the traditional course of the party. Party members and activists demanded the removal of the pro-Syrian Pakraduni. An acute conflict arose, and observers noted the apparent confusion of Pakraduni in the new political conditions ^[4] . As a result, an agreement was reached, formulated by Pierre Gemayel Jr.: Amin Zhmayel was appointed president (honorary chairman) of Kataib, Karim Pakraduni remained chairman until the re-election in 2007 .

At the last stage of his party leadership, Pakraduni maintained a pro-Syrian and anti-Israeli orientation. So, during the Lebanon war of 2006, he actually solidified with the Islamic Hezbollah , condemning the "right-wing forces of Israel ." On Israel, he blamed the destabilization of Lebanon and the Middle East as a whole ^[6] . Later, in 2008, Pakraduni expressed indignation over the call by Israeli Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer to physically eliminate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. ^[7]

Since the end of 2007, Amin Gemayel became the chairman of Kataib. In 2015, he was replaced by Sami Gemayel . The phalangist leadership was again headed by representatives of the founders clan, carriers of the tradition of Pierre and Bashir ^[9] . Kataib’s political course has completely changed, adopting an anti-Syrian orientation. Karim Pakraduni has departed from party politics.

After the party's resignation, Karim Pakraduni's main occupation was lecturing on the political history of Lebanon. In 2012, Pakraduni's book Years of Resistance: The Mandate of Émile Lahood, the Former President of Lebanon - Years of Resistance: Mandate of Emil Lahoud, former President of Lebanon, was published ^[10] .

In his memoirs, Karim Pakraduni gives assessments to many political figures: in particular, he notes the authoritarian style of Pierre Gemayel and highly appreciates his cousin Maurice . He regrets with great regret the social devastation of the times of the civil war, and explains its calamities with a “democratic deficit”. Quite critically evaluates the position of Kataib. He claims that even in those days, "the mind was for the right , but the heart for the left, " he considered social transformation necessary.

Periodically gives interviews, makes statements of a political nature. To the journalist’s question about “life after the phalanx,” Pakraduni replied that he continued his political activities ^[1] . It offers a dialogue of the anti-Syrian coalition on March 14 with the pro-Syrian coalition on March 8 , the Christian and Muslim communities. Supports President Michel Aoun ^[11] , considers the Lebanese army the guarantor of national interests and the integrity of the country ^[12] . Participates in the events of the Armenian public in Lebanon ^[11] , insists on the official status on April 24 as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide ^[13] .

In the Syrian conflict, Pakraduni is opposed to military-political pressure on the regime of Bashar al-Assad ^[14] .

In 1968, after completing his education, Karim Pakraduni married Monet al-Nashif, the niece of the famous politician and businessman Salem Abdelnur. He has two sons in marriage - Jihad and Javad. He lives with his wife in the Beirut Christian quarter of Ashrafia .