20 March 2006

BEIRUT: Ten Lebanese soldiers, killed during the 1975-90 Civil War, were honored and laid to rest on Saturday, burying with them their families' agonizing 15-year-long wait for their return.

On Saturday, the army command held an honorary ceremony at the military hospital in Beirut in honor of the "martyrs of honor," the 10 soldiers identified in the mass grave exhumed last November at the Defense Ministry in Yarze.

"Our sons are martyrs, heroes!" shouted the families as their relatives' coffins, draped in the Lebanese flag and accompanied by wreaths of white flowers, were carried by the army while a military band played somber music.

The martyrs were honored by Army Commander Michel Suleiman, represented by General Hussain Hajjar.

Some women, clad in black, screamed and others wept, with some fainting after touching the coffins and taken to the hospital for treatment.

"This is how they bring you back to us after all these years?" shouted one of the relatives, visibly distressed as the soldiers carried the 10 coffins to separate vehicles for burial in the soldiers' native towns.

The army vowed to compensate the families for the loss of their "serving loved ones," and took full responsibility of the funeral procedures and all the costs acquired in relation to it.

"Full monetary compensation in line with the military law will be given to each of the relatives of the army martyrs," an army source close to the case told the The Daily Star, adding that the compensations will be in the "millions of liras," but could not specify the exact amount per family, as the calculation process is "complicated."

The actual amount each family will receive depends on the rank of the deceased, the years served, as well as variety of other conditions.

MPs from the Reform and Change bloc attended the funerals, as well as a notable absence of state representatives.

Former Army General Issam Abu Jamra was present as well as MP Edgar Maalouf, representing MP Michel Aoun.

Free Patriotic Movement members were also present at the funerals carrying Lebanese flags and chanting "Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence."

Speaking to reporters, Abu Jamra said with tears in his eyes: "The files of the missing Lebanese in Syria and the soldiers who died on October 13, 1990 have not been closed."

"These are the people who truly wrote history and gave Lebanon its freedom," he added.

None of the state officials attended the funeral, and when contacted by The Daily Star, no clear answer was given as to the reasons behind their absence.

The 10 bodies were among 20 corpses in the mass grave found several months after the Syrian troop pullout from Lebanon last year. They were identified this week by DNA tests and the families were notified.

"The search for the remaining missing loved ones will continue," said Ghazi Aad, head of Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (SOLIDE).

"Our journey does not end here, but has just started," he said, adding: "If it wasn't for the determination of the families, these bodies would still be missing and lying buried under a playground at the ministry," echoing similar reactions by the relatives of the missing persons.