On 13 October 1990, Syrian forces launched an attack on the Lebanese army, defeating General Aoun; and occupied what still remained of Lebanon's free territory. Elefteriades fled to France. In 1991, he came back to Lebanon and founded the Unified Movements of the Resistance (or M.U.R.), which he led until 1994. M.U.R. was a clandestine, armed group whose stated goal was fighting Lebanon's occupation by foreign armies. Elefteriades was often involved in organizing general strikes designed to paralyze the country. M.U.R. was considered an illegal labor organization and its activities often had to be implemented secretively.