Etienne Saqr

Etienne Saqr (born in 1937) (last name also spelt Sakr or Sacre, Arabic: إتيان صقر), also known by his nom de guerre "Abu Arz" (translate: Father of Cedars), is a far-right, Lebanese nationalist leader and founder of the Guardians of the Cedars militia and political party ( حراس الأرز, Horras Al-Arz in Arabic). Saqr and his militia participated in the Lebanese War facing the Palestinians and the Syrians in the 1970s and 1980s, and remained militantly active until he was expelled from the country with the flight of the South Lebanon Army, of which he was not a member, in May 2000.

Early life and education

Saqr was born in Ain Ebel in 1937 into Maronite family, one of eleven children, of whom eight were boys and three were girls. His father was a school principal. Saqr was educated in French schools in Tripoli and Beirut.

Career

Saqr joined the Sûreté générale (General Security Directorate) in 1954 and was involved in fighting against pan-Arab forces in the Lebanon crisis of 1958. He left the security services in 1969, went into business, and became politically active in Lebanese nationalist circles. He opposed the Cairo Agreement of 1969. Worth noting is the pan-Lebanese conception of the party whose members were drawn not only from Christian circles but Muslim and Druze as well.