Mohamad Chatah

Mohamad Bahaa Chatah (Arabic: محمد بهاء شطح‎;[1] 1951 – 27 December 2013) was a Lebanese economist and diplomat. He was a member of Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community.[2]

Mohamad Chatah
محمد شطح
Minister of Finance
In office
11 July 2008 – 9 November 2009
Prime MinisterFouad Siniora
Preceded byJihad Azour
Succeeded byRaya Haffar al-Hassan
Personal details
Born
Mohamad Bahaa Chatah

1951
Tripoli, Lebanon
Died27 December 2013 (aged 62)
Beirut
Cause of deathAssassination
NationalityLebanese
Political partyFuture Movement
ChildrenRonnie Chatah
Omar Chatah
Alma materAmerican University in Beirut
University of Texas
WebsiteChatah blog

Biography

Chatah was born in Tripoli, Lebanon.[2] He studied economics at the American University in Beirut and earned a doctorate at the University of Texas in the United States.[3][4] Then he taught economics at his alma mater, University of Texas.[4]

In 1983 he secured a position with the International Monetary Fund as the deputy to the Executive Director, Dr. Mohamed Finaish.[5] He served as Ambassador to the U.S. from 1997 to 2000. He returned to the IMF in 2001 and stayed until June 2005. Chatah's resignation from the IMF in 2005 coincided with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on 14 February 2005; he returned to Lebanon as a senior adviser to the newly elected Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in August 2005 and served in the post until July 2008.[4] During the July 2006 war, Chatah appeared on numerous Western news outlets as a public spokesman for the Lebanese government.[5] When asked about the government's role in disarming local armed groups, Chatah said "we are doing it [through] dialogue and persuasion, and trying to reach a point where the state is the sole holder of weapons and the one with the only authority throughout our territory."[6] He also served as vice-governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon.[4]

Chatah was named the Minister of Finance of the 70th Lebanese government in July 2008 and held the position to November 2009.[7] He served as foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Saad Hariri from November 2009 to January 2011.[8] He was affiliated with the Hariri Future Movement, a Sunni political group, although he officially remained an independent figure in national politics.[5][9]

Assassination and reactions
Main article: Assassination of Mohamad Chatah

At approximately 9:40am on 27 December 2013,[10] a car bomb struck Chatah's convoy[11][12] in the Central District of Beirut, Lebanon.[2] The bombing killed a total of eight people, among them Chatah, and injured seventy others.[13] The bomb "was estimated to weigh more than 50 kilograms and was placed inside a stolen Honda car."[10] The attack has been described as a political assassination of Chatah.[14]

The US President Barack Obama and the Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the assassination of Chatah and described it as a terrorist attack on 27 December.[15]

Publications
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References
  1. "Meet the government". Now Lebanon. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  2. "Beirut blast kills Sunni ex-minister Mohamad Chatah". BBC News. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  3. Robert Fisk (27 December 2013). "Mohamad Chatah - fierce critic of Assad - is murdered in Beirut". The Independent. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  4. "HE Dr. Mohamad Bahaa Chatah". FIKR. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  5. "Mohamad Chatah: death of 'noble figure who believed in dialogue'". Euronews. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  6. War in the Middle East CNN (24 July 2006)
  7. "Former Ministers". web.archive.org. 18 December 2019.
  8. Associated Press (27 December 2013) Car bomb in Beirut kills six, including senior anti-Assad Lebanese politician Hurriyet Daily News. Retrieved 29 December 2013
  9. "Beirut car bombing kills top politician". Al Jazeera. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  10. "Lebanon: Hezbollah critic Mohamad Chatah's murder blamed on Shia militant movement". The Independent. 27 December 2013.
  11. "Lebanon's Chatah -- friend of U.S., enemy of Assad, Hezbollah -- killed". CNN. 27 December 2013.
  12. "Mohamad Chatah, Lebanese ex-minister, killed in Beirut bombing". Associated Press. 27 December 2013.
  13. "Beirut bombing death toll rises to eight". The Daily Star. 29 December 2013.
  14. "Beirut bomb kills Lebanese ex-minister who opposed Assad". Reuters. 27 December 2013.
  15. "Terrorist Attack and Assassination of Mohamad Chatah". US Department of State. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
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