Jean Kahwaji is a Lebanese general and present commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Background

Kahwaji is married to Marlene Sfeir and they have three children, Jad, Joanna and Joe. He is a Maronite Christian and had headed the army's 12th Infantry Brigade since 2002.

Kahwaji joined the army in 1973, he was trained abroad especially in the USA and Italy. He also underwent anti-terrorism

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

 training in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 2006, as well as in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Appointment

On August 30, 2008, the Lebanese government appointed Brigadier-General Jean Kahwaji to be chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces

Lebanese Armed Forces

The Lebanese Armed Forces or Forces Armées Libanaises in French, also known as the Lebanese Army according to its official Website The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) (Arabic: القوات المسلحة اللبنانية | Al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥa al-Lubnāniyya) or Forces Armées Libanaises in French, also known as the...

, replacing Michel Suleiman

Michel Suleiman

Michel Suleiman or Sleiman is the President of Lebanon. Before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. After LAF commander Émile Lahoud took office as president in November of 1998, Suleiman succeeded him, taking his place in December...

, who in May became the country's president.