Aoun, Moawad relented; his presidency ended 17 days later when he was assassinated. Elias Hrawi was elected in his place. After assuming office as president, Hrawi appointed General Émile Lahoud as commander of the army and ordered Aoun out of the Presidential Palace. Aoun rejected his dismissal. In February 1990 General Aoun launched an offensive against Samir Geagea’s Lebanese Forces (LF) in East Beirut. The three months of intermittent fighting caused more destruction of property in the Christian part of Beirut than the previous 15 years of civil war. It ended with the LF remaining in control of East Beirut, the harbour and Kisrawan province. Around 1000 people were killed and both East and West Beirut left without electricity and badly damaged water supply. The Gulf War had its repercussions on Aoun's government. Aoun had asked for help and the only unconditional help he received was from Saddam Hussein, who until 1989 was an ally of the West. On 2 August 1990, Hussein launched his invasion of Kuwait and the US established a coalition against Iraq to liberate Kuwait. President Hafez al-Assad of Syria sided with the coalition, a choice rewarded with a ‘green light’ to crush Aoun’s revolt. On the evening of 12 October, while giving a public speech, Aoun survived an assassination attempt by a lone gunman in the crowd. On 13 October Syrian forces attacked the presidential palace in Baabda. The same morning Aoun took refuge at the French Embassy, where he radioed his units to surrender to Lebanese Army Units under General Lahoud, who had pledged loyalty to Hrawi and his government. Exile (1990–2005) Asylum, National Conference and FPM: 1991–2000 France granted Aoun political asylum, but the Lebanese government wanted to take him to trial. After months of negotiations, he was given conditional amnesty and left to Cyprus and then to France on a French warship on 29 August 1991, where he started his exile. On 14 July 1994, he established the Free Patriotic Movement in what he called "The National Conference". United States, SALSRA and testimony in congress: 2001–2004 In 2001, Aoun started working with the Council of Lebanese American Organizations and the Lebanese expatriates in order to change the American public opinion regarding Lebanon. At the time, the United States supported the Syrian occupation and viewed Syria as an important factor for the stability of Lebanon. He contacted Eliot Engel, an American representative, to