Lebanese National Movement
The Lebanese branch of the undivided Ba'ath Party had been formed in 1949–1950. Assem Qanso is the longest-serving secretary (leader) of the Lebanese Ba'ath Party; first from 1971 to 1989 and again from 2000 to 2005. During the Lebanese Civil War, the party had an armed militia, the Assad Battalion. The party joined forces with Kamal Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party in organizing the Lebanese National Movement, seeking to abolish the confessional state. The Lebanese National Movement was later superseded by the Lebanese National Resistance Front, in which the party participated. The party organized resistance against Israeli forces in Lebanon. In July 1987 it took part in forming yet another front, the Unification and Liberation Front.