The Judge Who Followed the File They Wanted Buried.

Kamal Jumblatt Assassination File

The forbidden crime at the center of his public legacy.

Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated on March 16, 1977 on the Kfarhim-Baakline road with Fawzi Shdid and Hafez al-Ghosayni. The case was referred to the Justice Council on March 21, 1977, and Kawas was appointed judicial investigator on March 22, 1977.

The As-Safir archive published the decision text on May 24, 1996, in issue 7395. It identifies Kawas as the judicial investigator, cites Decree No. 66 of March 21, 1977 referring the case to the Justice Council, and cites Decision No. 49 of March 22, 1977 appointing him to the file.

The published text fixed the criminal facts in detail: Jumblatt was in a Mercedes, a Pontiac Firebird with four armed men blocked the road, two men wore military clothing, the driver and escort were removed, and Jumblatt was shot inside the car. It also records forensic and vehicle evidence, including the Pontiac's customs history and re-entry into Lebanon shortly before the assassination.

Its ending is the legal core of the archive: after nineteen years, Kawas concluded that the investigation had not discovered the perpetrators, partners, interveners, or instigators. The proceedings were dropped, warrants withdrawn, papers preserved, and the May 23, 1996 decision was signed by judicial investigator Hassan al-Kawas.

Later source accounts describe what happened to Kawas after he took the file. Independent Arabia says he was threatened more than once, faced an attempted kidnapping, and then saw a rocket projectile fired at his home, burning it and injuring his son. The same report says the investigation had reached the four gunmen and the Syrian officer supervising the operation, Ibrahim Huweiji, linked to the Syrian intelligence center in Sin el-Fil.

Al Jazeera's documentary write-up preserves the family account: Kawas handled the investigation, and his son later recounted threats and attempted killing, including a bullet entering Kawas's bedroom, the house being burned, and an attempted assassination while Kawas was with his wife.

A more detailed kidnapping account, reported from Brig. Gen. Issam Abu Zaki's version, says two armed men in camouflage and green berets stopped Kawas near his Ras Beirut home, entered his Buick, and rode with him until Ouzai. Kawas sensed the danger, drove toward a gas station where he was known, jumped out, and workers surrounded him while the gunmen were blocked.

The heavier message, according to the same account, was an RPG fired at his house. It burned the home and injured his son Karim in the leg, reportedly causing a lifelong disability. The account adds that Karim was sent to the United States and did not return to Lebanon, while Kawas eventually left Beirut for Ainab under Walid Jumblatt's protection and his family went to America. These materials are treated here as attributed testimony and press reconstruction, not court-confirmed archive fact.