WASHINGTON (AFP) Dec 27, 2002

Army Lieutenant General John Abizaid, whose ancestors emigrated to the United States from Lebanon, has been named deputy commander of US forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan, US military officials said Friday.

Abizaid will be deputy to General Tommy Franks, head of the US Central Command in Tampa, Florida. The command oversees US forces fighting in Afghanistan and would direct any potential attack on Iraq.

Abizaid, who speaks Arabic, German and Italian, currently is director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, and previously commanded the First Infantry Division in Kosovo. He also is a former commandant of the US Military Academy at West Point and served in combat in Grenada as a member of the elite Ranger commandos.

He also was operations officer for the UN observer group in Lebanon from

Abizaid received a bachelor of arts degree from Stanford University, a master's degree from Harvard University and studied at the University of Jordan in Amman. He is married with three children.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002