They killed him because he was a hero

Rmaish, Lebanon – Family and friends of slain Brig. Gen. Francois el-Hajj, killed by a car bomb on Wednesday, reacted with grief and horror in his hometown, vowing he would always be remembered as a “hero”.

 

“My son is a hero and heroes never die, he will remain alive in our hearts,” cried Kafa al-Aalam, mother of el-Hajj, chief of military operations, who was killed with his bodyguard in a car bomb blast in Beirut”s suburb of Baabda during the morning rush hour.

Women threw water on Aalam”s face as she fainted in her living room in Rmaish, a remote Christian village along Lebanon”s border with Israel.

 

The 79-year-old woman beat her head in grief as other black-clad women attempted to calm her.

 

“I heard that there was an explosion, so I called him on his mobile. He did not answer, then I saw on television that my Francois is dead,” she said. “He was due to celebrate his son”s wedding over Christmas, he will never have the joy to see his son getting married.

“May God crush the hearts of all those who have crushed mine at the holiday season,” she added, as female relatives embraced portraits of the 54-year-old slain general.

 

Esperance, el-Hajj”s 35-year-old sister, wept silently and remembered her brother as a loving man committed to his troops.

 

“He was a very loving person. Why did they kill him?” she asked.

 

“Because he was a hero. Because he fought against the terrorists,” she said, referring to the army”s 15-week deadly battle against Islamist radicals over the summer.

 

In a nearby house belonging to Hajj”s uncle, male relatives sat silently in the living room as villagers filed through to present their condolences.

 

The village streets appeared deserted except for the road leading to his family house and the village main square where young men were putting up Lebanese flags and posters praising the army.

 

The slain officer last visited his hometown on Tuesday, as he accompanied army chief Michel Suleiman on a tour of army positions and UN peacekeeping bases in the south.

 

Suleiman is front-runner to fill the country”s presidency, vacant since Emile Lahoud stood down on November 23 at the end of his term.

 

El- Hajj is survived by his wife Lody Andraos, his son Elie, 25, as well as his daughters Racha, 22, and Jessica, 20.

 

At the family home, Maronite bishop Nabil Shukrallah arrived to present his condolences.

 

“We ask the politicians to come to an agreement and to elect a president because we are all targeted, Lebanon is targeted,” the bishop said.

 

“We hope that Francois will be the last martyr in Lebanon,” he said.