[1] His whereabouts today remain a mystery,[7][6] but rumors persist that he has found refuge in Syria, while others suggest he is hiding in Lebanon under Hezbollah's protection,[8] or that he lives between both countries.

Habib Tanious Shartouni, a Maronite Christian, was born in a small village called (Arabic: شرتون) Chartoun in Aley, Mount Lebanon.

[9] A few months later, he was advised by his parents to flee from Lebanon to Cyprus then to France where he attended a university in Paris and obtained a degree in business.

He had spent his first year in Paris away from politics, until the late summer of 1977 during which he officially joined the SSNP upon his first visit to Lebanon and became an active member ever since.

[12] Subsequently, he was advised by Alam to carry the explosives from his place in West Beirut to the other end in Achrafieh, in the eastern side of the city, above the Kataeb headquarters.

Habib had spent eight years held captive in Roumieh prison without an official trial, until 13 October 1990 when he escaped during the final Syrian offensive in Lebanon that was aimed at toppling the government headed by Michel Aoun.

[1][19] On 20 October 2017, the Judicial Council, Lebanon's highest state security court, sentenced Habib Shartouni and Nabil al-Alam to death in absentia in the case of the 1982 assassination of President-elect Bachir Gemayel.