Ziad Abdelnour

> U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon: Founder
> Middle East Forum: Board of governors
> Investment banker

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Institutional Affiliations

Corporate Connections/Business Interests

Highlights & Quotes

Ziad Abdelnour, a Lebanese American devoted to the cause of driving Syria from Lebanon, has been involved in a number of neocon-led initiatives on Middle East politics. He is the founder of the U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon (USCFL), an advocacy group supported by Michael Ledeen, Jeane Kirkpatrick, James Woolsey, Elliott Abrams, Douglas Feith, and Frank Gaffney. (2)

Abdelnour co-produced, with Daniel Pipes and the Middle East Forum, a 2000 report calling for the United States to force Syria from Lebanon and to disarm it of its alleged weapons of mass destruction. The document, titled "Ending Syria's Occupation of Lebanon: The U.S. Role?" argued that "Syrian rule in Lebanon stands in direct opposition to American ideals" and criticized the United States for engaging rather than confronting the regime. Among the documents signers were several soon-to-be Bush administration figures, including Elliott Abrams, Douglas Feith, Michael Rubin, David Wurmser, and Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky. Other signers included Richard Perle, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Michael Ledeen, and Frank Gaffney. (5)

According to his bio on USCFL's "The Three Hundred Most Prominent Lebanese Americans": "Ziad K. Abdelnour, Dealmaker, Financier, Venture Capitalist, Registered Lobbyist. Financed over 60 US private companies since 1986 raising over $3.5 billion in capital; sits on the Board of 15 of them. President & Founder of the U.S Committee for a Free Lebanon, Inc , Former President of the Arab Bankers Association of North America and Publisher of the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. Son of Lebanese MP Khalil Abdelnour."

(1) U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon
http://www.freelebanon.org/

(2) U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon: Supporters
http://www.freelebanon.org/gc-f.htm

(3) "THCG Appoints Senior Investment Banking Executives," Business Wire, December 14, 1999

(4) Middle East Forum: Board of Governors
http://www.meforum.org/governors.php

(5) Jim Lobe, "Neo-con fingerprints on Syria Raid," Asia Times, October 9, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/middle_east/ej09ak01.html