Ashraf Rifi (; also spelled Achraf Rifi) (born 1 April 1954) is a Lebanese politician and former police chief. He was the general director of the Lebanese

Internal Security Forces The Internal Security Forces (; ; abbreviated ISF) are the national police and gendarmerie of Lebanon. Modern police were established in Lebanon in 1861, with the creation of a gendarmerie force. In April 2005, Ashraf Rifi became head of the I ...

(ISF; the national police) from 2005 to 2013 and served as minister of justice from 15 February 2014 to 21 February 2016. He is a member of the

Renewal Bloc Renewal Bloc () also known as Kutlat Tajadod is one of the parliamentary blocs in the Lebanese Parliament that was formed after the 2022 Lebanese general election. On 22 June 2022, MP Michel Moawad announced the birth of the bloc that would be c ...

in the

Lebanese Parliament The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...

Early life and education

Rifi was born into a Muslim Sunni family in

Tripoli, Lebanon Tripoli ( ; , , ; , ; see #Names, below) is the largest and most important city in North Lebanon, northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in the country. Situated north of the capital Beirut, it is the capital of the North Governorate ...

on 1 April 1954. He attended

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU; ) is the only state-funded public university in Lebanon. It was established in 1951. The university's main campus was originally located in Beirut, but a few satellite campuses were opened due to travel restriction ...

(LU), studying the sociology of crime. He studied police work abroad during assignments with police forces in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

;

Maisons-Alfort Maisons-Alfort () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort. The Fo ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Career

Security forces

Rifi joined the Police of the

North Governorate North Governorate (, ') is one of the governorates of Lebanon and one of the two governorates of North Lebanon. Its capital is Tripoli, Lebanon, Tripoli. Ramzi Nohra has been its governor since May 2, 2014. The population of North Governorate is ...

in 1976 and was first posted as a Police Lieutenant in Halba from 1976 to 1978. Thereafter, he was Police Chief or Deputy Police Chief of various small towns in

Akkar Akkar District () is the only district in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon. It is coextensive with the governorate and covers an area of . The UNHCR estimated the population of the district to be 389,899 in 2015, including 106,935 registered refugees o ...

, Koura and

Byblos Byblos ( ; ), also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl (, Lebanese Arabic, locally ), is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The area is believed to have been first settled between 8800 and 7000BC and continuously inhabited ...

, before joining the Anti Smuggling Unit of Tripoli Police in 1983 as a Major. Having gotten trained in explosive detection and disposal in France in 1980-1981, between 1985 and 1988 he was part of the security detail of Prime Minister

Rashid Karami Rashid Karami (; 30 December 1921 – 1 June 1987) was a Lebanese statesman. He is considered one of the most important political figures in Lebanon for more than 30 years, including during much of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), and serve ...

and

Salim Hoss Salim Ahmad al-Huss ('';'' 20 December 1929 – 25 August 2024), also spelled Selim El-Hoss, was a Lebanese politician who served as the prime minister of Lebanon and a longtime Member of Parliament representing his hometown, Beirut. He was kno ...

. As a Lieutenant Colonel, he was loaned out to the Saudi Interior Ministry as a security officer between 1988 and 1992. Promoted to Colonel in 1992, between 1992 and 1994, he was Chief of the Riot Police in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, and Chief of Police in Central Beirut between 1994 and 1996. Between 1996 and 1997, he was the Police Chief of Sidon City. As a Brigadier, he became Head of Police of the North Governorate in 1997, Chief of Beirut Police in 2000, and Chief of Modernisation in 2002. He was promoted to major general in April 2005 when he was named to head the national police due to the resignation of former head,

Ali Al Hajj Ali Al Hajj (; born 1955) is a former major general and ex-director general of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces. Early life Hajj was born into a Muslim Sunni family based in northern Lebanon in 1955. Career Hajj was in charge of governme ...

. Rifi is one of the board members of the Prince Nayef University for Security Studies. Rifi has close ties to

. Rifi's term ended on 1 April 2013 and he retired due to mandatory age limit. Rifi's term was not extended by the Lebanese government, leading to resignation of premier

Najib Mikati Najib Azmi Mikati (born 24 November 1955) is a Lebanese politician and businessman who served as the 52nd prime minister of Lebanon from 2021 to 2025. He previously served in this post as the 48th and 45th prime minister from 2011 to 2014 and i ...

in March 2013.

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

members of the Mikati cabinet did not endorse the extension of his term. Roger Salem, who had been deputy of Rifi since December 2012, succeeded Rifi as head of the ISF.

Saad Hariri Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri ( ; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese people, Lebanese businessman and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and 2016 to 2020. The son of Rafic Hariri, he ...

proposed Rifi as a new prime minister, but his proposal was not supported. Rifi as a general director of internal Security Forces was very open to cooperate with civil society organizations. For example, he supported the partnership between ISF and YASA (youth association for social awareness) in many road safety interventions that contributed positively for road safety in Lebanon. He supported the efforts that led to the new Lebanese traffic law #243 that was enacted by the Lebanese parliament in 2012.

Politics

Rifi was appointed justice minister in the cabinet led by

Tammam Salam Tammam Saeb Salam (, ; born 13 May 1945) is a Lebanese politician who was the Prime Minister of Lebanon from February 2014 until December 2016. He also served as the acting President of Lebanon from May 2014 until October 2016 in his capacity as ...

on 15 February 2014. He resigned as justice minister on 21 February 2016, due to his disapproval of the influence of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite political group, in the Lebanese government. Rifi quit by order of Saudi Arabia according to the assertions of

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

while they pulled a $3-billion deal to equip the Lebanese security forces and blamed Hezbollah's influence for preventing Lebanon from backing Saudi Arabia in the Gulf kingdom, saying it was "destroying Lebanon's relations with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia." In April 2021, he heavily criticized Hezbollah, calling them a collaborator of "mini-Nazi"

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and an enemy to Lebanon. Ashraf Rifi ran in the 2022 general elections as part of a

Lebanese Forces The Lebanese Forces ( ') is a Lebanon, Lebanese Christianity in Lebanon, Christian-based political party and Lebanese Forces (militia), former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's Parliamen ...

-supported list in the North II district and managed to win one of the Sunni seats in Tripoli. On May 2023, Rifi launched the

Sanad Movement Sanad may refer to: People Given name *Sanad Al Warfali (born 1992), Libyan footballer *Sanad Ali (born 1988), Emirati footballer *Sanad Bushara Abdel-Nadief (born 1947), Sudanese footballer *Sanad ibn Ali, 9th century Iraqi Jewish astronomer, tran ...

which would work under the principles of sovereignty and democracy and vowed to lift Iranian grip over Lebanon. On 9 June 2023, Ashraf Rifi disclosed to OTV that he increased the representation of

Lebanese Christians Christianity has a long and continuous history in Lebanon. Biblical scriptures show that Peter and Paul evangelized the Phoenicians, leading to the dawn of the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch. As such, Christianity in Lebanon is as old as Chri ...

in the

from 27% to 40.2%. During the 2025 municipal elections he also expressed concerns over the lack of Christian and Alawite representation in the Tripoli Municipal Council and also supported splitting

into 2 separate Muslim and Christian councils to improve Christian representation in the city.

Personal life

Rifi is married to Salima Adeeb and together have 4 children. He is a Sunni Muslim.

Awards

The Arab Organization for Administrative Development for the Arab League and the Tatweej Academy for Excellence and Quality awarded Rifi with the title of ''Man of the Year 2011'' in

the Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

for his leadership in security in December 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rifi, Ashraf 1954 births Living people Politicians from Tripoli, Lebanon Lebanese Sunni politicians Lebanese University alumni Justice ministers of Lebanon Members of the Parliament of Lebanon