Asʿad Family

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ASʿAD FAMILY

A prominent family of southern Lebanon.

The Asʿad family claims descent from the family confederation of al-Saghir, who in turn trace their lineage to tribes in Arabia. Ahmad al-Asʿad and his son Kamil were dominant politicians in the twentieth century; both held ministerial positions and Kamil was speaker of Parliament for much of the 1970s and also in the 1960s and 1980s. His family leadership suffered from the rise of radical political parties among Shiʿites in the early phase of the civil war of 1975. In later years, the rise of AMAL and Hizbullah, eclipsed the influence of the family. Kamil al-Asʿad failed to win a seat in the 1992 parliamentary elections.

see also amal; asʿad, ahmad; asʿad, kamil; hizbullah.

As'ad AbuKhalil