Khalil Abou Hamad Explained

Office:Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants
President:Suleiman Frangieh
Primeminister:Saeb Salam
Predecessor:Nasim Majdalani
Successor:Khatchig Babikian
Term Start:13 October 1970
Term End:25 April 1973
Birth Date:1936
Nationality:Lebanese

Khalil Abou Hamad (1936–1992) was a Lebanese lawyer who served as the minister of foreign affairs in the period 1970–1973.

Early life

Abou Hamad was born in 1936.[1] He hailed from a Greek Catholic family.[2]

Career

Abou Hamad was a lawyer by profession and founded a law firm in Beirut.[1] He was named as the minister of foreign affairs on 13 October 1970 in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Saeb Salam, replacing Nassim Majdalani in the post.[3] Abou Hamad remained in office until 25 April 1973 when a new cabinet formed, and Khatchig Babikian was appointed as foreign minister.[3]

Activities and views

When Abou Hamad was serving as foreign minister in December 1970, he announced the neutrality of Lebanon stating that Lebanon would not align with either side in the Cold War.[4] He visited China following the opening of National Bank of China in Beirut in 1972.[5]

Following the murder of the Israeli Olympic athletes by the Palestinian Black September militants in Munich in September 1972, Abou Hamad argued that Lebanon would limit the movements of the Palestinians living in the country.[6]

Later years and death

Abou Hamad was one of the board of trustees members of the Diana Tamari Sabbagh Foundation which was established by Palestinian businessman Hasib Sabbagh in 1979 following the death of his wife Diana Tamari.[7] Abou Hamad died in 1992.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Khalyl M. Abouhamad (1936-1992) former Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs. AMNCC. 24 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211209104741/http://www.amncc-lawfirm.com/lawyers.aspx. 9 December 2021.
  2. News: April - The Government of Amin Al Hafez: Confidence Session Not Convened. 24 December 2021. The Magazine. 9 April 2014. 24 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211224153756/https://monthlymagazine.com/article-desc_731_.
  3. Web site: Lebanese Foreign Ministers. 24 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211123143238/https://mfa.gov.lb/english-uat/lebanese-foreign-affairs-ministers. Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 23 November 2021.
  4. Dan Naor. The Power of Neutrality: Lebanon as an Oil Transit Country. Middle East Policy. Spring 2019. 26. 1. 133. 10.1111/mepo.12405.
  5. David Perez-Des Rosiers. A Comparative Analysis of China’s Relations with Lebanon and Syria. Sociology of Islam. 2019. 7. 2-3. 192. 10.1163/22131418-00702006.
  6. Brock Dahl. The Lebanese-Palestinian Conflict in 1973: The Social (De)Construction of Lebanese Sovereignty. 47 . University of Oxford. M.Phil. 2006.
  7. Walid Khalidi. Remembering Hasib Sabbagh (1920––2010). Journal of Palestine Studies. 2010. 39. 3. 58. 10.1525/jps.2010.XXXIX.3.52.