Funeral of the former Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces Commander retired General Victor Khoury

The Army Command, the Association of the Lebanese Armed Forces Veterans and the citizens of Amchit organized this afternoon the funeral of the former Minister of National Defense and Armed Forces Commander retired General Victor Khoury.

An Army military unit performed the protocol ceremony when the body of the deceased was transported from the Central Military Hospital in Badaro in the morning and upon the arrival of the body to the church of Saint John in Amchit. Archbishop Boulos Rouhana represented His Eminence the Cardinal Bechara Boutros el-Raï and celebrated the Mass in the presence of the Minister of National Defense Yaacoub el-Sarraf who represented His Excellency the President of the Republic, the Speaker and the Prime Minister. The Mass was attended by the LAF Chief of Staff Major General P.S.C Hatem Mallak who headed an accompanying delegation of senior officers and represented the LAF Commander General Jean Kahwagi in addition to a crowd of official, religious, security and diplomatic figures as well as comrades in arms and citizens.

Chief of Staff Mallak delivered a speech in which he praised the achievements of the late deceased and his distinguished features during his tenure at the Army Command between 1978 and 1983 as well as his tenure as a Minister of National Defense between 1978 and 1979.

Major General Mallak said in his speech “in addition to his courage and wisdom while taking the adequate decisions and his belief in the State of Institutions and complete commitment to the decisions of the legal authority, General Khoury represented an example in humbleness, self-made achievements and neutrality toward politics and different temptations”. “the country has witnessed during his tenure at the head of the Army Command and the Ministry of National Defense repeated Israeli aggressions and bitter internal incidents that separated the regions where barricades were set up in different Lebanese regions. Despite all of these dangers and the complicated situations which strained his responsibilities at that time, General Khoury’s was always adamant is his endeavor to defend the legal authority and the Army’s unity in addition to boosting its military capabilities and played a patriotic role once again in reuniting the country and retrieving sovereignty, peace and stability.