Lebanon's parliament has passed a law granting amnesty to jailed Christian Maronite militia leader Samir Geagea.

A majority of MPs in parliament on Monday voted in favour of Geagea's amnesty by a show of hands, but the 14 representatives of the anti-Israel Shia Muslim movement Hizb Allah were absent. 

The vote paved the way for one-time Israel ally Geagea to be released after 11 years in prison.

He is expected to walk out of his cell at the Defence Ministry in a few days after the bill is signed by President Emile Lahoud.

Minutes after the announcement, supporters fired volleys of rifle fire in his northern mountain hometown of Besharre.

Others waved flags of his banned Lebanese Forces outside parliament and in Christian neighbourhoods of Beirut.

The 52-year-old  has been in prison since 1994.

The charges

Geagea has been serving a life sentence in prison.

His four life sentences include three for the murder of political rivals, including a prime minister, and one for an attempt to kill a minister.

The former anti-Syria leader of a wartime Christian militia was cleared of a 1994 bomb attack on a church that left 11 dead but was handed a death sentence that was commuted to life imprisonment - the only militia leader to be jailed for crimes during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The campaign for his release was stepped up in the political turmoil that followed the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in February and the subsequent pullout of Syrian troops.

PHOTO CAPTION

Lebanese Forces supporters hold a cross and a poster of Christian warlord Samir Geagea in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 18, 2005. (AP)