Beirut Notes

They Are the Past and You Are Iran

2009-06-20T12:16:00.004+03:00

Thank you Iran, thank you for giving hope to every freedom loving person in the Middle East. My heart grows when I see this nation rise up to its great past, its intelligence, its beauty and its dynamism.
Thank you Iran for confronting the idiotic tyranny of ideologues, liars, murderers and frauds.
You make me proud, you give me hope.
I want to be with you in these rallies. These are the best of times where everything seems possible, where you feel you can change the world.
You stood up! You confronted! What courage!
I hear your cries, your yearning for liberty and it is the sweetest sound, the saddest cry.
I lived it in Lebanon and it turned me into a free being and everything after that was possible.
I hope you succeed to bring down this ugly and sick leadership out of Orwell's Animal Farm. These social swine viruses.
If you don't, if they kill you, you will still have won. They are the past and you are Iran.

Odette Salem Never Gave Up

2009-05-20T08:00:00.005+03:00

Odette Salem will finally know the truth.

On 16 May 2009, Salem, who was the main organizer for Friends and Families of the Missing and Kidnapped sit-in opposite the ESCWA headquarters in Beirut, passed away after a traffic accident while crossing the street to the protest tent.

Salem never gave up looking for her children and organized a movement to uncover the fate of the 17,000 people who disappeared during Lebanon's civil war. The movement gained political momentum after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon.

After an encounter with Salem in January 1993, I had written the following:

Odette Salem will never stop looking for her children, Richard and Christine, who were kidnapped in 1985 on Sadat Street in West Beirut.
"The war has ended," says Salem. "But my nightmare hasn't. How can we talk of peace when I don't know where my children are?"
On Tuesday September 17, 1985, Salem cooked lunch for her children. They usually returned home from work at 2 p.m.. But, Richard, who was 23 years old, and Christine, who was 20 years old, were late.
Salem waited for them on the balcony of her house in the Sakiat al Janzir district in West Beirut. It was 3 p.m. and they still had not come. She phoned the Joseph Salem design company in Hamra Street, West Beirut, where Richard and Christine worked. She was told that they had left an hour ago.
She thought they had had a car accident, so she phoned all the hospitals in the capital. Nothing. She rushed to her neighbor, Colonel Issam Abou Zaki, who today is the national Chief of Police. He phoned the capital's precincts. Nothing. In August and September 1985, fifty Christians were kidnapped in West Beirut. Salem's children were among them. The Hezbollah, she says, kidnapped Richard and Christine to exchange them with Shiites, held by the Christian militia.
"During the war," she says, "I worried about bullets, bombs and mines. But I never thought my children would be kidnapped."
After news spread about the abduction, Salem received a phone call from a person demanding a ransom. "Three days after they were kidnapped," she recalls, " I received a phone call. A man asked me for 100,000 Lebanese Pounds [about $3000 at the time]." But the call was a prank.
Many people asking for money called her; but none knew where her children were.
Salem, whose husband died of a heart attack in 1982, says that she suffered from severe depression for the three years following her children's abduction. She was hospitalized several times. Now she lives on tranquillizer and can hardly fall asleep before 3 a.m.. She has suffered a slipped disk, a severe case of sinusitis; her kidneys need surgery urgently.
"I am a wreck," she says smoking her fourth cigarette in 40 minutes. "But I won't have surgery before I see my children. What if they are released and I am still in the hospital? Who would they go to? I am the only family they have left."
Her children have become her only purpose in living since 1985, when she founded the Parents of the Kidnapped Association. She has organized rallies and lobbied politicians and journalists. "Promises, promises, promises, is all I get from politicians," Salem says. "Last year, this idiot [former Prime Minister Omar] Karami told me, with a smile on his face, that there were no kidnapped left alive. I walked out of his office."
Indeed after the Lebanese Forces and the Hezbollah released 14 hostages in July 1991, the government considered the case closed. Salem, however, is convinced that her children are still alive.
"Last year," she says, "a former kidnapped [ whom she refused to name] told me that he was held with my son at the Sheik Abdallah barracks in Baalbak [once a Hezbollah stronghold]. "Now the [Lebanese] army took over the barracks, and they [Hezbollah] moved him."
She met with Hezbollah leaders, the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the Iranians. Nothing. Her crusade will continue until she sees Richard and Christine, dead or alive, she says.
Everynight Salem looks at the photo albums of her children and talks to their pictures. " This is all I have left," she says weeping. "I am living with their pictures."

Goodbye Mrs. Salem, your story should never be forgotten and always be told to safeguard our country from further bloodshed and tears.

Fatah Al Hamam / Nasrallah the Traitor

2007-05-26T01:00:00.000+03:00

The truth is that Syria is destabilizing Lebanon, and Fatah Al Islam is its creation.
Syria opened the gates of hell...and their dogs of war, Hezbollah, are helping them.

The truth is that Hezbollah, Syria and Iran decided to kill Hariri. Syria would never take such a decision without informing their favourite commander Hassan Nasrallah.

The truth is that Walid Jumblatt and Samir Geagea and all their allies are not statesmen but worn and corrupt war criminals without visions.

The truth is that Michel Aoun is a megalomaniac who is ready to burn Lebanon for his presidential obessions.

The truth is that Saad Hariri is a useless puppet.

And guess what, we elected those that are about to destroy our lovely country.

Fatah Al Islam or Fatah Al Hammam, they could have called it anything. This Syrian invention. They create chaos in Lebanon and they benefit. Israel benefits. The US benefits, Iran benefits but Lebanon doesn't.

But somehow we have politicians that beg to differ. But the worse of them all is Hassan Nasrallah...the bearded Hitler that turned utter defeat into victory, and I don't care what our enemy Israel says. We lost our Lebanon last summer, and we are about to finish it off this one.

Israel first, now Syria and Iran and their new toy Fatah Al Islam.

"Labayka Nasrullah, Labayka Nasrullah" and land price in Syria tripled.
"Labayka Nasrullah, Labayka Nasrullah" and Syrian GDP is growing substantially.
"Labayka Nasrullah, Labayka Nasrullah" and Syria is courting Israel for peace talks.
"Labayka Nasrullah, Labayka Nasrullah" and Lebanon is being destroyed by your barbarian ideology and your ugly face.

Nasrallah decided that Fatah Al Hammam should kill the Lebanese Army and they should find a political compromise.
Nasrallah decided to kidnap Israeli soldiers and get Israel to destroy Lebanon.
Nasrallah decided with the Syrians and the Iranians to kill Rafic Hariri.
Nasrallah is a traitor that should be prosecuted and sentenced to 30 years in jail.

The Heroes

2006-08-28T09:57:00.000+03:00

The Lebanese are heroes. The ones who fought Israel in the South and defeated its once mighty army, the ones who rescued the wounded, the ones who took in the refugees and helped them, the ones who never stopped working during the war and the ones who prayed.
The Lebanese are heroes and not cowards killing women and children with "smart" bombs and laser guided missiles from US made jet fighters.
The Lebanese are heroes and not monsters who commit massacres in the name of Zionism.

Whatever Hezbollah did, (Nasrallah admitted yesterday that he would not have kidnapped the soldiers if he knew what Israel intended to do), and whether it did it for Iran or Syria, is irrelevant.

It is Israel that killed my fellow citizens, destroyed our infrastructure and our economy. It is Israel's army that was defeated in the fields of our South. The resistance was heroic, Israel was pathetic in its crimes and the world witnessed in real time how immoral a state and a people it is.

Israel's hate was poured onto Lebanon and part of it was destroyed. But we will rise, like we always do, stronger and more united.

[I went back to Lebanon last week for a few days, thinking that it would be easy to close shop and move to London. I was heartbroken. My country is beautiful, my people are warm and caring , our fruits and our vegetables are the freshest and life there is easy.

"Should I give up on our new life and my great new job in London, take my family back to Beirut and live day to day there?", this is a question I have been asking myself everyday since I came back.

A prominent Lebanese banker I met during my short Beirut stay, answered my question when he said:"Ambitious people go make their money outside and come retire in Lebanon." I wish somebody could have told me this earlier.]

The New Saladin

2006-08-14T21:28:00.000+03:00

Hassan Nasrallah's speech tonight was clear: Nobody will disarm Hezbollah and I am imposing my will to power on Lebanon.
Ah! and of course he claims that Hezbollah won the war. But that is classic and discounted populist spin.

He also said that Hezbollah will compensate everyone whose house was destroyed. That will make him a semi-god (he was prior to that a saint, whose name you could not pronounce in vain) among the majority of Shiites in Lebanon.

He also said that it was his people who suffered most while others were comfortable in their offices theorizing.

Thank you Israel for transforming this ignoramus ideologue, whose philosophy of life and death comes from 1400 year old book and who is educating his people accordingly, into a victorious and arrogant ignoramus ideologue.

Thanks to Israel, Lebanon has its mini Khomeini and the Islamic Republic of Lebanon is around the corner.

Now Israel is depending on the Lebanese government to finish the job, but I hope that Lebanon will not oblige and I hope that Israel will end up with an Islamic republic on its border that will make its life hell for a long time.

Unless they are fond of religious wars, I call on my Israeli enemies to join me in London because a new Saladin is rising at their doors and his name is Nasrallah.

The Herald of Civil War

2006-08-14T07:47:00.000+03:00

Another pro Iranian and pro Syrian newspaper was published today, Al Akhbar (the news), its owner, the arrogant mercenary Ibrahim Al Amin wrote that Hezbollah will not give up its weapons and he went on to accuse Lebanese politicians of implementing the will of the United States and Israel.

The paper also interviewed (the I hate Hariri because he is not backing my Presidential candidacy) General Michel Aoun who accused the Hariri camp and their allies of coordinating with the US and therefore having prior knowledge of the Israeli attack.

In any other country such accusations of betrayal spun by Iranian and Syrian funded papers such as Ad Diyar and Al Akhbar should lead to investigations or libel trials.

In Lebanon it usually leads to civil strife.

Syria and Iran: Bring it on, Israel!

2006-08-06T22:14:00.000+03:00

[A must watch video: George Galloway on Sky]

The Syrian Foreign Minister today was emboldened enough to say:"Syria is ready for the possibility of a regional war if the Israeli aggression continues...[and] as Syria's foreign minister I hope to be a soldier in the resistance.''

From the beginning, the war on Lebanon was a losing battle. The more Israel kills Lebanese civilians and destroys Lebanon's infrastructure the stronger Hezbollah becomes.

The only way to have hurt Hezbollah and Iran is to have focused on Syria and its weak regime. But now it is too late.

With a change of regime in Syria, attacks in Iraq would stopped so would weapons to Hezbollah. The Syrian opposition made it clear that fighting Israel is not its intention and I wonder why the Israelis did not see this option.

Ariel Sharon understood that. He was the one who sent planes to bomb Palestinian bases in Syria. He scared them.

Lebanon is and was always a trap for Israel. Ehud Olmert and his army of hotheads and criminals did not see that and they fell right into it.

It would have been simple, Israel hits the Syrian military and regime aparatus and the opposition takes over in no time. Iran would not have intervened and if it did than it would have been threatened with deadly force.

At the same time, Israel makes peace with the Palestinian moderates and things would have come to an end.

But today, Israel looks very weak and the Syrians know it.

Go to Heaven!

2006-08-04T18:35:00.000+03:00

Supporters of Hezbollah in Lebanon today are confident of their victory. They have survived therefore they win. Israel killed hundreds of Lebanese and destroyed our infrastructure and still Hezbollah won. Hundred of thousands of refugees and Hezbollah supporters say that they are victorious.

If this is victory, what is defeat?

Maybe Hassan Nasrallah can explain to me what he meant when he said that if his fighters retreat it is not important because it is just a little bit of land and it is not precious enough to hold on to.

What are the Shebaa Farms then? A little bit of unpopulated land?

What are the 3 prisoners held in Israel compared to the hundreds of children that Israel killed?

Get out of Lebanon Hassan and take your ideology of death and hate with you. Take your supporters and your complexes and go to your beloved Islamic Republic of Iran.

Leave us, the people who actually believe in a country called Lebanon, alone. You are not part of us. Go live your Islamic battles somewhere else. Go to heaven and let us live in the pro-American hell in peace and prosperity like many other places in the Middle East and Asia.

Sayonara The Islamic Republic of Iran

2006-08-02T19:05:00.000+03:00

Hezbollah is not a Lebanese party. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said it several times on live TV. His nation is not even the Arab world, it is Islam.

And Nasrallah said a few days ago that he is fighting the battle of the Umma (the nation of Islam) despite Lebanon's will.

Nasrallah is the General of Khamanei. He might live in Lebanon but he considers it part of dar al-harb. Indeed Islam divides the world in two parts, Dar el-Islam, the House of Islam, and Dar al-harb, the house of War.

Lebanon is not an Islamic country and it is not ruled by Islam, therefore Khamenei's Sharia allows it to be destroyed for the greater cause of Islam. And Nasrallah dutifully obeys.

Today, Shiite refugees, mostly followers of Hezbollah, are all over Christian, Druzes and Sunni areas. Small and localized problems are happening here and there. Some of them are walking in the streets with guns, in some areas women are afraid to walk at night and houses are being robbed.

After all it is "hallal" (religiously permitted) to rob a non-Muslim for some twisted fundamentalist minds.

A reporter I know told me that a refugee girl who did not wear her veil was beaten in front of her.

People are scared that the small clashes will one day explode into a full fledged massacre, because Hezbollah is armed and the rest of the population is not.

A recipe for a new civil war.

Hezbollah has been brainwashing the poor Southerners since 1983. Today fundamentalism is the norm.

And Hezbollah was founded and is funded by Iran. The ideology, finance and arm shipments are all Iranian.

Why is Israel hitting Lebanon alone? That does not make sense. Because the moment there is a ceasefire is the moment that Hezbollah gets armed again.

The Israeli murderers want to make sure that Hezbollah is destroyed before the adventure against Iran starts. This is why the Iranians do not want Hezbollah to give up the fight, whatever the cost to Lebanon, because they know they will be next.

I think that the smiles of both Khamanei and his crazy lackey Ahmadinejad will soon be wiped out their bearded faces.

2006-08-02T09:55:00.000+03:00

Special to Beirut Notes / Terje Roed-Larsen: Crisis could engulf Syria

2006-07-31T16:47:00.000+03:00

Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN envoy in charge of implementation of resolution 1559, told a seasoned Arab diplomat recently that Israel has a US "green light" to hit Hezbollah and Syria, but not Iran.

According to a first hand account, Roed-Larsen added that the situation is very dangerous and could spread.

My source added that Larsen might mentioned the Syrian factor because he wanted the message to get to the Syrian leadership.

Furthermore, Roed-Larsen said that US Vice President Dick Cheney, who is not the healthiest of men, will be resigning in three months only to be replaced by Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

The Monsters From Israel

2006-07-30T11:48:00.000+03:00

One more time, Israel turned life into death in the village of Qana where Christ supposedly attended a wedding and turned water into wine.
The Israelis massacred, butchered, tore the limbs of at least 51 people including 22 children.
The democratic state of Israel, the moral state of Israel is burning Lebanese children alive to the god of Zionism.

Ten years ago Israel massacred more than 100 refugees in a UN base in Qana. And Israel went unpunished.

Lebanese kids are inferior, aren't they? They do not matter to Western societies. Israel can kill as it pleases and wishes, and it is always unintentional.

Poor Israel, Poor Israelis. They after all are victims defending themselves from the Arab monster. They can kill its children, its grand children and its mothers. They are fighting for survival.

Poor Israel, Poor Israelis. They are the first line of defence for Western civilization and ethics. They can make a mistake and kill tens of children and apologize and the US quickly forgives them. That is allowed.

After all they are human and Lebanese children are Hezbollah supporters that should die for the new and democratic Middle East that George Bush has promised the world.

A Middle East of death, misery and hate. A Middle East where criminals are celebrated and victims are swiped under the carpet of international justice.

That is the brave new world that Bush, his neo-con intellectuals and their Israeli instigators promised us.

Wake up Israel!

2006-07-29T22:07:00.000+03:00

Last night Walid Jumblatt asked:"To whom will [Sayyed Hassan] Nasrallah give his gift of victory [over Israel]? To the Lebanese people or to Iran and Syria?"
And Nasrallah answered tonight when he said:"Hezbollah's victory is for Lebanon and for all the Lebanese...Christians and Muslims... Our victory will make Lebanon more united than ever."

If Nasrallah is sincere, and he usually is, than Hezbollah should win. The Israelis destroyed my country and my life and put their country for the first time since the creation of their state under direct attack.

Their military adventure and their refusal to seek a peaceful solution with their neighbours has exposed them. Might might be right for a short period but geography and history will always prevail.

I call upon the Israelis to stop this useless slaughter, vote their present government out and go back to the negotiating table.

The Arabs were clear. They want peace, a just peace. In 2002 at the Arab Summit in Beirut, Arab states proposed a peace initiative that was rejected by Israel. In 2003, a group of Israelis and Palestinians worked out a virtual peace solution in Geneva and again it was rejected by Israel.

A just peace is the solution. Bunker buster bombs, the killing of innocent children or the destruction of Lebanese villages, will only create more hatred, radicalism and misery.

Wake up Israel!

Unite

2006-07-27T21:03:00.000+03:00

Today whatever our grievances, we should unite. We do not need more divisions and another civil war because everyone will surely loose.
Let us unite, not for Nasrallah, nor for Jumblatt. Let us unite because we are all in the same boat even though Hezbollah is driving it. But if we panic we will all sink.

Some of the displaced are lifting Hezbollah flags in certain regions that have opened their houses and schools for them and that is causing friction. But forgive those who provoke. They have lost their houses and their land. They have lost everything they had. Embrace them, after all they are Lebanese like you.

Hezbollah may serve Iran and Syria, but the majority of its supporters are poor and miserable people who need welfare. Be patient and unite and defend your brothers even if they are wrong.

As for Hezbollah supporters, they should be more humble and not label people who truly care about their country more than any cause as traitors. Indeed, the Party of God has conscripted the whole Lebanese population to join their ultimate battle. Can't they understand our anger and grief?

This is the moment to turn the other cheek to Hezbollah, especially when Israeli bombs are killing our children and ruining our dreams.

An Act That Is Worth 1.5 Billion Words

2006-07-25T21:18:00.000+03:00

While Israel and Hezbollah are destroying Lebanon and Iran and Syria are claiming to stand by their Lebanese allies in words and venomous threats, Saudi Arabia showed its true friendship and love and sent us $1.5 billion.

This makes Saudi Arabia 1.5 billion times more important to Lebanon than any member of the axis-of-evil. This makes Syria and Iran 1.5 billion times more crimal and cowardly than they actually are. This makes Hassan Nasrallah look 1.5 billion times more petty. This makes all the pro-Syrian politicians 1.5 billion times less patriotic than they ever were. This is an act of solidarity in the face of Israeli rage that is 1.5 billion times more powerful than any Arab League meeting.

Thank you to the people and government of Saudi Arabia for standing by us.

The Day I Realized That My Lebanon Is No More

2006-07-25T01:56:00.000+03:00

Lebanon is not mine anymore. I always realized that day was coming. In fact most Westernized Lebanese thought so.

I could see it. The misery, the poverty, the inequality. It was bound to explode. Hezbollah was born amidst desperate people and with its mix of preaching, charity and military victories against a supposedly unbeatable foe, it gave meaning to their lives.

More than a million people support Hezbollah and idolize its leader Hassan Nasrallah and Israeli bombs today only reinforce the Party of God's grasp on its community.

After this crisis, Hezbollah and its allies will rule. And in anticipation I am trying to cut all ties to the Lebanon that I gave 13 years of my life for while others emigrated at the first opportunity that came up.

I believed, but not anymore. Now it is Hezbollah's turn to impose its Lebanon and I do not want to be a part of it. I lived war and refuge from 1975 till 1990 and I do not want to do it anymore.

I want to axe my ties to Lebanon.

I want the best for my children and Lebanon is not it and will never be.

Therefore, my wife and I have started looking for a school that will accept our children come September, and I am looking for a job, any job. I can be a pretty good waiter or janitor. I have the skills.

I guess Walid Jumblat, the Druze leader, was right when he said that he preferred to be a garbage collector in New York than a political leader in Lebanon. (But I do not think that he has the skills, after all he is a Bey).

A friend of mine suggested today that I become a banker, a rich and respectable one. But I like being a journalist and I like covering troubled spots as a foreign correspondent but not as a victim.

Therefore if any of you out there has a job offer please send it my way. (What a cheap way of exploiting my blog! What comes next? Advertising!)

A Five Star Evacuation

2006-07-23T11:20:00.000+03:00

A few weeks ago I had promised my wife and kids a weekend on the beach in Cyprus, which is 40 minutes away by plane from Beirut. But I could not deliver on that promise because of my busy work schedule, until we were evacuated on board a Royal Navy vessel, the HMS Gloucester, courtesy of Islam and Zionism battling it out in my backyard.

I am not complaining and I am deeply indebted to the British government for rescuing my little British hooligans, their beautiful British mother and my "shocked and awed" self, but the journey was no Disney cruise.

The British Embassy told us to be at the Forum of Beirut, a large concert hall by the port, between 9:30 am and 2:30 pm. My plan was to drop my wife and kids and stand tall in Lebanon. And then my kids cried, "don't leave us daddy", my wife cried, "I will not leave without you" and my business cried, "we are going to go bankrupt if you stay".

On the morning of Wednesday 19 July 2006, I filled my "standard evacuation" Gap backpack with shaving kit and toothbrush, a few work documents, a couple of t-shirts and boxer shorts and lots of precious personal items, like the deed to my house, the birth certificates of my kids, my wife's jewelry and lots of regrets for leaving my father and mother, who are safe so far in their house in the mountains.
My parents, who were faced with the same dilemma during the 15 year civil war, have a "too old for this ####" attitude today and refuse to leave Lebanon again. Before heading to the ship, my mother hugged me and said with tears in her eyes:"don't go to Europe, it is too close to Lebanon. Immigrate to the US, Canada or Australia, leave this cursed country for good. Build your children a new life far away."

We took a taxi and got to the British appointed hangar, where Paul Anka and Julio and Enrique Iglesias performed in recent years, at noon. We then waited under the watchful eyes of the Lebanese police and the British military, until it was our turn to be registered by the local Embassy staff.
A lady in her eighties, held by her Ethiopian nurse, was at a counter near us. Although her nurse had a valid British visa, the civil servant refused her entry to the ship, which was only for British citizens and their direct dependents. The old woman had no choice but to head home.

Four hours later, we boarded the air-condition free buses and headed for the Beirut port, that Israel bombed the previous morning. An apologetic and sweaty Lebanese immigration officer boarded the ovens on wheels and checked everyone's passport and we simmered at 40 C for another hour.

We then headed to the batch three Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy and were escorted by groups to our quarters. My kids were impressed by the merry-go-round motions of the ship's radar, her machine guns and Sea Dart missiles that shot down an Iraqi Silkworm missile that was threatening the USS Missouri during the 1991 Gulf War.
We went down the ship's hull, a labyrinth of tight corridors and steep ladders, until we got to our assigned windowless room. We were about 80 evacuees in that 50 square meter space and my wife, kids and I sat on our backpacks and made friends with our newly discovered Siamese brothers and sisters.

During the next couple of hours the ship's crew offered us sandwiches and chocolates which I whole-heartedly ate, considering that my diet was not appropriate at such troubled times. And then the Gloucester departed; destination: Limassol, Cyprus.

My next arm to arm neighbour, Toufic, 65, asked the sailor in charge of our room in a loud voice:"When can I have a smoke and scotch on the deck, captain?"
"You can have a smoke in about 20 minutes when we get passed the Israeli blockade, but I'm afraid we're not offering any alcohol today."

While I got comfortable with my awkward sitting position on the floor, a nurse tread carefully in between our hands and feet and told the part English part German family sitting above me to make place for a semi-blind elderly woman. The wife in a heavy German accent protested, the nurse insisted until a British-Lebanese middle aged man got up and sat in the corridor.

When the time came, we were allowed on the front deck of the destroyer and my kids and I were impressed at the speed of this rather large ship and its stability. Indeed, the trip took five hours and very few people felt sea sick. We were processed again by the British in the port of Limassol and then moved by buses to the RAF airbase in Akrotiri.

By 3 O' Clock AM, my wife and children who had managed less than an hour of sleep that day, rushed to their stretchers with the sheets and pillow that the very helpful British military staff had provided us with, took a sip of water, and slept.

Although I had not slept that day, my priorities were different. I felt sweaty and dirty and all I could see were the toilets and the showers and the soap and the towel that were also provided for us evacuees at the base.

Clean again, I had some tea and slept on the stretcher, which felt, after the 5 hour yoga session on the ship, like a water bed.

I managed an hour of sleep and got up to join a group of Toufic with a group of British-Lebanese men. One of them had spoken to his family back home, (international phone calls and internet access were provided for free), and informed us that the Israelis had dropped 29 tons of bombs in the predominantly Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut next to the Palestinian camp of Burj al Barajneh.

A pumped up and shaven man shouted in Arabic a desperate "Ya Allah!" (Oh God!). And when I asked him what is the matter, he said that he had moved a few months ago from England and opened a body building club next to this area. He informed us that he had won several body building competitions in Britain and he showed us his oil and muscles pictures that he kept on his mobile phone, admitting that he shot himself with muscle enhancing drugs to get that big.

We all praised the British military for their excellent logistics and humane treatment. There was a play area for kids, a tent for mothers who breastfeed and special beds and mattresses for injured people. I must admit that if evacuations were rated, I would give this one five stars. The British military had certainly more manners, more respect and more desire to serve than the staff of any hotel in Paris.

By 1:30 PM we were taken to the base airport where an Air Caraibe Airbus, chartered by the British government, waited for us. Toufic begged and slimed for a first class seat with the right authorities and got it. But before we got on the plane, the military asked for our permission to let the press in and none of us objected.

Journalists, cameramen, photographers, radio and newspaper interviewers flooded the waiting room and in ten minutes photographed, filmed and interviewed many of us. We were news material and that made me feel like a victim and I did not like it. But all those feelings disappeared as soon as we got on the plane whose ownership and French speaking and suntanned crew were Caribbean based. And I told my kids to forget about Lebanon and to think that they were back from a trip in the French Martinique.

We landed in Gatwick in no time, we took a taxi and headed to my in laws house in Central London and I called my parents back in Lebanon and told them that we had arrived and as I was about to end the conversation, my mother said once again: "Go to the far end of the world my son. Take your family as far as you can from Lebanon and do not look back."

Donate Now and Unite!

2006-07-22T08:19:00.000+03:00

[To understand the horror of the conflict please go to this website: http://fromisraeltolebanon.info/]

Lebanese immigrants in the UK are getting together under one message: stop the war.
Shiites, Druzes, Armenians, Sunnis and Christians are united in the face of horror and destruction.
Meetings have been held at the embassy in London and Lebanese from all walks of life are ready to help in the humanitarian effort.
An Israeli even sent money to the account set up by the Lebanese community in Britain.

There are 500,000 refugees, more than 400 dead, 1,000 wounded and billions of dollars of losses to the economy. Lebanon needs are the world's help and you can donate to the following organizations:
The Red Cross
UNICEF
Relief Lebanon

It is time for the Lebanese to be one and to fight our sectarian impulses.
Hezbollah and its weapons are a question for the Lebanese to solve peacefully and democratically.
The Israeli strategy is to push the Lebanese to fight its war and finish off Hezbollah. Israel needs a new civil war in Lebanon but we will not succumb to its conspiracy.
Even if its actions are unilateral and influenced by Iran and Syria, Hezbollah is a Lebanese party with over one million supporters in our country. And a civil war is worse than a thousand Israeli invasions or air strikes.
Israel is not fighting Hezbollah, it is killing our children and terminating our nation's economic future.
National unity is essential and we have to face this tragedy united not politically but humanely.

I Left for a Smile

2006-07-21T15:49:00.000+03:00

I left Lebanon because I have three kids. I left Lebanon because I do not want them to live through wars and civil wars and death and destruction. I left Lebanon because I do not want them to hate. I left Lebanon because I do not want them to become me. I left Lebanon because I have three kids whom I love more than country and flag.

I look at them today in London and they have a smile on their faces. Their cheeks are red and their lips are not yellow anymore. No more tears or fears.
Last night, they heard aircrafts flying overhead and they did not jump out of their beds into mine, crying and worried that they might die. And when I asked my eldest daughter who is eleven why did she fear the sound of aircrafts in Beirut and not in London, she said: "the ones in Beirut are out to kill".

Yesterday, on our way to London my wife thanked the Lord, (she believes, lucky her), and the British for getting us out safely from Lebanon and this morning she woke up and she cried and cried because she left her house, our home and she might not go back there for a long time.

In Beirut my wife, kids and I lived a dream that ended in a nightmare. And now, here in London, I am lost thinking about my family's future and that of my business and I blame, not Hezbollah or Israel, but myself for believing in Lebanon.

I Am Out!

2006-07-20T08:32:00.000+03:00

I will start this note by thanking the British government and the British military for their help in getting us to London. Not only was the organization and logistics great, but the kindness, humanity and understanding shown by the British military was outstanding.

Indeed, Last night I got on the HMS Gloucester from the Beirut port, a few minutes later the Israelis started bombing again. 24 hours later, I was in London.(More on that journey tomorrow when I get over it).

And as soon as I got to my relative's house in London, I switched on the Arabiya news channel where a wounded Lebanese girl, no more than 12 years old, was being interviewed and on the bottom of the screen a news alert said that Hezbollah fighters destroyed two Israeli tanks and all I could manage was a curse.

I want to end this note by thanking Hassan Nasrallah, Iran, Syria and Israel for killing 300 Lebanese and making more than 500,000 of them refugees in their own country.

Hezbollah Is Bringing the Temple Down On Our Heads

2006-07-18T12:25:00.000+03:00

While Israeli bombs are killing Lebanese children and innocents by the hundreds, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, decided to "fight for the Nation of Islam, whether the Lebanese want it or not".

Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Israel are turning Lebanon into killing fields. My beautiful country is being burned by crazy ideologies. My Lebanon of joy is being eaten by human monsters. My kind Lebanon is being butchered in the name of religion.

Our enemy Israel is killing us but at least its civilians are dying and it is paying the price of its military adventure, so is Hezbollah. But the cowards of Syria and Iran are sitting and watching civilians die and smiling cunningly.

The cowards of Syria and Iran are selling their oil at unprecedented prices and are reaping the political and economic benefits while we are loosing our children and billions of dollars.

Those cowards are buying and selling our lives for their regimes' interests. The blood of Lebanese children is being traded like options, futures and shares and the Iranian and Syrian regimes are filling both their strategic and financial pockets.

And Hezbollah is not a resistance force anymore. Hezbollah, today, is going on a worthless suicide mission and taking the whole of Lebanon with it.

God help all the Lebanese, Shiites, Sunnis, Christians and Druzes, who have been cheated into death for the sake of Assad's and Khamanei's regimes.

UFO?

2006-07-17T14:37:00.000+03:00

[The Israeli airforce is hitting Kfarshima, the area where the UFO fell. Journalists are speculating that the UFO was a Hezbollah missile that was aimed at Israel but was somehow brought down at launch.]

Fifteen minutes ago "an unidentified flying object", as described by Al Manar TV, fell in flames from the sky in the area of Kfarshima, east of Beirut.
Here in our offices which are nearby, we felt the pressure but we did not hear the explosion.
The news that transpired at first and the TV images showed a plane being shot down by a missile. But the Israeli military denied it, according to local TV stations.

The Lebanese security forces cordoned the area and prevented reporters from going in. There is talk about a missing pilot, an F16, an MK observer plane and burning cars. People in the southern suburbs of Beirut celebrated, shooting in the air.

More to come...

Now New TV is saying that there were two pilots on board the falling plane or helicopter and sources in Hezbollah told Al Jazeera that they have ground to air missiles.
Sources from the Lebanese government said to a local TV station that there were no pilots nor plane.
The UFO was a small container full of leaflets, according to the Israeli military.

I guess the pro-Hezbollah celebrations on New TV, Al Manar, Al Jazeera and that of the pro-Syrian politicians was a little premature.
Instead those idiots should put an end to their rubbish slogans and show some true love for Lebanon and let the elected government of Lebanon impose its sovereignty on the whole Lebanese territory.

Enjoy!

2006-07-17T12:34:00.001+03:00

I am stuck in Beirut. My family is stuck in Beirut. No antibiotics, no electricity, less and less gasoline. No way out.
My nephews and nieces cry every time they hear a bomb. They are afraid to die.
The family of a colleague was stuck in Tyre next to the building of the fire brigade that Israeli planes bombed and brought down yesterday evening, killing more than 16 people.
He was going mad, crying, shouting and praying until an hour later when his son got through to him telling him that they were in the shelter and that they are alright.
Refugees from the southern suburbs of Beirut and from the South of Lebanon are seeking shelter anywhere they can in public gardens, schools and empty buildings.

Last Wednesday I was with my girlfriend at the opening of a new trendy outdoor club. Women were dancing on the bar and men were smoking their cigars to the sound of house music. I spent last night with crying children and anxious mothers to the sound
of Israeli bombs.

This is a tragedy. Innocent Lebanese are paying the price of regional conflicts once again.
Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Israel are killing us and the world is watching.

Enjoy!

What Comes Next?

2006-07-15T12:50:00.001+03:00

Israel will not be able to destroy Hezbollah, because the Shiite Party of God has more than one million supporters in Lebanon. Even if Israel kills Hassan Nasrallah, there are thousands more that are willing to take his place.

The Hezbollah guerillas are willing to die for their cause and they are able to hurt Israel with their long range missiles. They will never give up the Israeli soldiers they kidnapped nor will they ever lay down their weapons.

The current war will probably end when Israel creates a 20 km “security zone” within Lebanon and then go into negotiations to free its soldiers. But the danger to Lebanon will come after that.

What will happen next is the break up of the national dialogue and that of Lebanon, the return of the civil war or a pro-Syrian and Iranian take over of Lebanon.

Weapons are in the hands of Hezbollah and their Lebanese and Palestinian allies and in those of the Lebanese army that will break up in case of any sectarian conflict.

Therefore the balance of power within Lebanon is totally in favour of Hezbollah and its allies.

In that respect the free, democratic and prosperous Lebanon that we dreamt about on 14 March 2005 was just that…a dream.

Instead the Islamic Republic of Lebanon will rise...unless both the regimes of Syria and Iran fall or unless a just and lasting peace occurs in the Middle East.

Hezbollah to the rest of the Lebanese: "We are Lebanon and you are all tourists"

2006-07-12T14:20:00.000+03:00

Hezbollah today is deciding the future of all Lebanese. They know best what is good for Lebanon.

They view themselves as the defenders of Islam! They are the storm troopers of the Prophet. Lebanon shlebanon they do not care about it. They do not care about the Arab world. They are the leaders of the whole Islamic world.

"Look the Shiites are much more successful at defending Islam than their Sunni brothers."

Tourism! What tourism? who cares about the economy when God is on your side, promising the ultimate tourist destination: paradise.

And who is going to pay the bills? The Islamic Republic of Iran of course and its yearly US$500 million to their Shiite cavalry in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has metamorphosed from a resistance force to Israel to a resistance force to Lebanon's development and progress.

This bunch of bearded Neanderthals wants us to live like our ancestors did in the 7th Century and nobody can stop them.

A Dictator in the Making

2006-07-09T10:11:00.000+03:00

Candidates for the leadership of democratic countries spend months campaigning. They engage their opponents in debates of ideas and they usually market their social and economic plans to the electorate.

This is not General Michel Aoun’s style. He kicks, screams, swears and abuses. He did not learn anything from his exile in France.

"Lebanon is a ranch that can be purchased. Whoever thinks so will not be staying in the country for much longer," he said yesterday.

Where is the positive message in that? What is his plan to make things better?

He calls his opponents liars, cheats and thieves but has nothing to show in counterpart.

Furthermore, I remember very well when he once proudly stated that he was behind resolution 1559, today his speech shifted completely: “"The United Nations handed down Resolution 1559 without any regard for our (Lebanese) will," he said yesterday.

This man is dangerous. He is a dictator in the making. It is really disappointing for I once believed in him.

Sexual Healing

2006-06-24T12:58:00.000+03:00

When I heard the rumour that a prominent Lebanese politician was spending a lot of time in Europe because of a love affair with a diplomat, it made me happy.

They are the talk of the town. They are seen everywhere together in the diplomat's city. They share the same hotel and they are true love birds.

I wish more politicians find themselves extramarital affairs and release their frustrations and complexes.

It would do Lebanon a lot of good to see some of the most nervous and angry leaders in the arms of a lover who would take them away from their daily rants on the airwaves.

Lovers of our politicians should get lessons from Monica Lewinsky in the art of easing tension. Look at the cool attitude of Bill Clinton.

But come to think of it, Adolph Hitler had Eva Brown and that only made him crazier and Benito Mussolini had Clara Petacci and that did not ease his megalomania.

However, I sincerely hope that love and respect of women and country replace our politicians lust for power.

Thriller - The Hassan Nasrallah Version

2006-06-02T06:03:00.000+03:00

Pro-Nasrallah supporters?

The protesters who flooded the streets of Beirut last night reminded me of a particular kind of horror movie, the one dealing with the living dead. The pro-Hezbollah hoards could be perfect figurants in a remake of Michael Jackson's Thriller video.

At 11 PM last night I was enjoying a business dinner in an Italian restaurant when the news of the protest hit, two minutes later the place was empty and the first thing that came to my mind were those lyrics:

Its close to midnight and something evils lurking in the dark;
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,Youre paralyzed
'Cause this is thriller, thriller night

Indeed, the mob that idolizes Hassan Nassrallah to the point of divinity is brain washed to the point of death. Yesterday's incident should be called "the night of the brain-dead".

The pro-Nasrallah idiots burnt what remained of Lebanon's summer season because of a sequence lampooning their bearded idol in "Basmat Watan", a comedy show on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.
1.5 million tourists were expected but now poof...they have probably disappeared, thanks to Hezbollah's radical religious and political ideology shouted in mosques and husseiniyas, broadcast on Manar TV and other media, written in the party's books, newspapers and other publications and last but not least financed at the rate of US$500 million per year by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

And instead of condemning the violent protest, Nasrallah praised "the brave people who were hurt" and urged them to go back home. Nagib Mikati, the ex-Prime Minister, criticized "Basmat Watan" and condoned the protests.

First it was the Prophet Mohammed pyromaniac protest but now Sayyed Nasrallah has his own "I want to burn something" fan club. Indeed, As Safir wrote today that the mighty party members of Hezbollah protected the Chiyah church from the mob. No Danish embassy or LBC office to burn there, then what about a church? "no" says the Hezb! Alright then what about some rubber tires?

What this lynch party actually burnt was the prospect of jobs and money for themselves and their families. It is not their fault but Hezbollah's ideology that chooses misery, idolatry and martyrdom instead of the prospect for a better future...Thriller!

The Corrupt Media of Lebanon

2006-05-18T15:12:00.001+03:00

Unlike all Arab countries, Lebanon is the country of freedom...freedom to be corrupt.

We should all be proud that all our media outlets (press, TV and Radio) have been ultra corrupt since independence. A few years ago a prominent journalist said on live TV that he is proud to receive "financial assistance" from friendly countries. I wonder how much are countries in the Gulf and Iran paying our honest journalists and media owners?

Indeed, most media outlets in Lebanon are on the take. They either work for the Hariris, get financed by them, are aspiring to receive Hariri funds or are being financed by their regional enemies and sometimes friends.

Without corruption most media outlets will close and only the most read, viewed or listened to would survive.

No wonder corruption is rarely exposed and things never change. No wonder murderers and thieves rule us. Everything is for sale in Lebanon and we brag about it and then when things go wrong, we cry.

The corrupt are only exposed if they do not pay their political and media dues. And if by chance anyone talks about media corruption...the corrupt media of Lebanon unites and cries of "freedom of the press" are raised.

What a dirty lot!

Long live Blogging and the Internet!

From the nut of Teheran to the nut of Washington

2006-05-11T14:53:00.000+03:00

A few days ago, Mahmood Ahmadinejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran", wrote a long winded letter to George W. Bush, the President of the USA.

The letter talks a lot about how bad the West is, (and sometimes he is right), how bad the US media is, (Ahmadinejad forgets that all his "US is bad" theory is based on reports in the US media)and how liberal democracy failed and that the solution is Islam.

Ahmadinejad also affirms Iran's right to own nuclear technology and asks Bush "can one be a follower of Jesus Christ ... and ... work towards the establishment of a unified international community - a community which Christ and the virtuous of the Earth will one day govern, but at the same time, have countries attacked."

This last comment shows that Ahmadinejad, who mentions Jesus Christ ten times in the letter, thinks that it is virtuous to believe in the second coming of Christ and the Apocalypse, a dogma also present in the Koran and in which he strongly believes.

Ahmadinejad imitates the Prophet Mohammed who sent letters to the Persian and Roman (Byzantine) Emperors asking them to convert to Islam, ("Aslem Taslam") and thinks that Islam is destined to conquer the world.

This is what the nut from Teheran wrote to the nut from Washington:

To George Bush, president of the United States of America

"In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Mr George Bush, President of the United States of America,

For sometime now I have been thinking, how one can justify the undeniable contradictions that exist in the international arena - which are being constantly debated, especially in political forums and amongst university students. Many questions remain unanswered. These have prompted me to discuss some of the contradictions and questions, in the hope that it might bring about an opportunity to redress them.

Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ (PBUH), the great Messenger of God, feel obliged to respect human rights, present liberalism as a civilization model, announce one's opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and WMDs, make 'War on Terror' his slogan, and finally, work towards the establishment of a unified international community - a community which Christ and the virtuous of the Earth will one day govern, but at the same time, have countries attacked. The lives, reputations and possessions of people destroyed and on the slight chance of the presence of a few criminals in a village, city, or convoy for example, the entire village, city or convoy (are) set ablaze.

Or because of the possibility of the existence of WMDs in one country, it is occupied, around one hundred thousand people killed, its water sources, agriculture and industry destroyed, close to 180,000 foreign troops put on the ground, sanctity of private homes of citizens broken, and the country pushed back perhaps fifty years. At what price? Hundreds of billions of dollars spent from the treasury of one country and certain other countries and tens of thousands of young men and women - as occupation troops - put in harms way, taken away from family and loved ones, their hands stained with the blood of others, subjected to so much psychological pressure that everyday some commit suicide and those returning home suffer depression, become sickly and grapple with all sorts of ailments; while some are killed and their bodies handed to their families.
On the pretext of the existence of WMDs, this great tragedy came to engulf both the peoples of the occupied and the occupying country. Later it was revealed that no WMDs existed to begin with.

Of course Saddam was a murderous dictator. But the war was not waged to topple him, the announced goal of the war was to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction. He was toppled along the way towards another goal; nevertheless the people of the region are happy about it. I point out that throughout the many years of the imposed war on Iran Saddam was supported by the West.

Mr. President,

You might know that I am a teacher. My students ask me how can these actions be reconciled with the values outlined at the beginning of this letter and duty to the tradition of Jesus Christ (PBUH), the Messenger of peace and forgiveness? There are prisoners in Guantanamo Bay that have not been tried, have no legal representation, their families cannot see them and are obviously kept in a strange land outside their own country. There is no international monitoring of their conditions and fate. No one knows whether they are prisoners, POWs, accused or criminals.
European investigators have confirmed the existence of secret prisons in Europe too. I could not correlate the abduction of a person, and him or her being kept in secret prisons, with the provisions of any judicial system. For that matter, I fail to understand how such actions correspond to the values outlined in the beginning of this letter, i.e. the teachings of Jesus Christ (PBUH), human rights and liberal values.
Young people, university students, and ordinary people have many questions about the phenomenon of Israel. I am sure you are familiar with some of them.

Throughout history many countries have been occupied, but I think the establishment of a new country with a new people, is a new phenomenon that is exclusive to our times.

Students are saying that sixty years ago such a country did not exist. They show old documents and globes and say try as we have, we have not been able to find a country named Israel.

I tell them to study the history of WWI and II. One of my students told me that during WWII, which more than tens of millions of people perished in, news about the war, was quickly disseminated by the warring parties. Each touted their victories and the most recent battlefront defeat of the other party. After the war they claimed that six million Jews had been killed. Six million people that were surely related to at least two million families.

Again let us assume that these events are true. Does that logically translate into the establishment of the state of Israel in the Middle East or support for such a state? How can this phenomenon be rationalized or explained?

Mr. President,

I am sure you know how - and at what cost - Israel was established:

- Many thousands were killed in the process.
- Millions of indigenous people were made refugees.
- Hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland, olive plantations, towns and villages were destroyed.

This tragedy is not exclusive to the time of establishment; unfortunately it has been ongoing for sixty years now.
A regime has been established which does not show mercy even to kids, destroys houses while the occupants are still in them, announces beforehand its list and plans to assassinate Palestinian figures, and keeps thousands of Palestinians in prison. Such a phenomenon is unique - or at the very least extremely rare - in recent memory.

Another big question asked by the people is 'why is this regime being supported?' Is support for this regime in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ (PBUH) or Moses (PBUH) or liberal values? Or are we to understand that allowing the original inhabitants of these lands - inside and outside Palestine - whether they are Christian, Moslem or Jew, to determine their fate, runs contrary to principles of democracy, human rights and the teachings of prophets? If not, why is there so much opposition to a referendum?

The newly elected Palestinian administration recently took office. All independent observers have confirmed that this government represents the electorate. Unbelievingly, they have put the elected government under pressure and have advised it to recognize the Israeli regime, abandon the struggle and follow the programs of the previous government.

If the current Palestinian government had run on the above platform, would the Palestinian people have voted for it? Again, can such position taken in opposition to the Palestinian government be reconciled with the values outlined earlier? The people are also asking 'Why are all UNSC resolutions in condemnation of Israel vetoed?'

Mr. President,

As you are well aware, I live amongst the people and am in constant contact with them - many people from around the Middle East manage to contact me as well. They do not have faith in these dubious policies either. There is evidence that the people of the region are becoming increasingly angry with such policies.

It is not my intention to pose too many questions, but I need to refer to other points as well.

Why is it that any technological and scientific achievement reached in the Middle East region is translated into and portrayed as a threat to the Zionist regime? Is not scientific R&D one of the basic rights of nations? You are familiar with history. Aside from the Middle Ages, in what other point in history has scientific and technical progress been a crime? Can the possibility of scientific achievements being utilized for military purposes be reason enough to oppose science and technology altogether? If such a supposition is true, then all scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, engineering, etc. must be opposed.

Lies were told in the Iraqi matter. What was the result? I have no doubt that telling lies is reprehensible in any culture, and you do not like to be lied to.

Mr. President,

Don't Latin Americans have the right to ask why their elected governments are being opposed and coup leaders supported? Or, Why must they constantly be threatened and live in fear?

The people of Africa are hardworking, creative and talented. They can play an important and valuable role in providing for the needs of humanity and contribute to its material and spiritual progress. Poverty and hardship in large parts of Africa are preventing this from happening. Don't they have the right to ask why their enormous wealth - including minerals - is being looted, despite the fact that they need it more than others?

Again, do such actions correspond to the teachings of Christ and the tenets of human rights?

The brave and faithful people of Iran too have many questions and grievances, including: the coup d' etat of 1953 and the subsequent toppling of the legal government of the day, opposition to the Islamic revolution, transformation of an Embassy into a headquarters supporting the activities of those opposing the Islamic Republic (many thousands of pages of documents corroborate this claim), support for Saddam in the war waged against Iran, the shooting down of the Iranian passenger plane, freezing the assets of the Iranian nation, increasing threats, anger and displeasure vis-á -vis the scientific and nuclear progress of the Iranian nation (just when all Iranians are jubilant and celebrating their country's progress), and many other grievances that I will not refer to in this letter.

Mr. President,

September Eleven was a horrendous incident. The killing of innocents is deplorable and appalling in any part of the world. Our government immediately declared its disgust with the perpetrators and offered its condolences to the bereaved and expressed its sympathies.

All governments have a duty to protect the lives, property and good standing of their citizens. Reportedly your government employs extensive security, protection and intelligence systems - and even hunts its opponents abroad. September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services - or their extensive infiltration? Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret? Why are we not told who botched their responsibilities? And, why aren't those responsible and the guilty parties identified and put on trial? All governments have a duty to provide security and peace of mind for their citizens. For some years now, the people of your country and neighbors of world trouble spots do not have peace of mind. After 9.11, instead of healing and tending to the emotional wounds of the survivors and the American people - who had been immensely traumatized by the attacks - some Western media only intensified the climate of fear and insecurity - some constantly talked about the possibility of new terror attacks and kept the people in fear. Is that service to the American people? Is it possible to calculate the damages incurred from fear and panic?

American citizens lived in constant fear of fresh attacks that could come at any moment and in any place. They felt insecure in the streets, in their place of work and at home. Who would be happy with this situation? Why was the media, instead of conveying a feeling of security and providing peace of mind, giving rise to a feeling of insecurity?

Some believe that the hype paved the way - and was the justification - for an attack on Afghanistan. Again I need to refer to the role of media.

In media charters, correct dissemination of information and honest reporting of a story are established tenets. I express my deep regret about the disregard shown by certain Western media for these principles. The main pretext for an attack on Iraq was the existence of WMDs. This was repeated incessantly - for the public to finally believe - and the ground set for an attack on Iraq.

Will the truth not be lost in a contrived and deceptive climate? Again, if the truth is allowed to be lost, how can that be reconciled with the earlier mentioned values? Is the truth known to the Almighty lost as well?

Mr. President,

In countries around the world, citizens provide for the expenses of governments so that their governments in turn are able to serve them.

The question here is 'what has the hundreds of billions of dollars, spent every year to pay for the Iraqi campaign, produced for the citizens?'

As Your Excellency is aware, in some states of your country, people are living in poverty. Many thousands are homeless and unemployment is a huge problem. Of course these problems exist - to a larger or lesser extent - in other countries as well. With these conditions in mind, can the gargantuan expenses of the campaign - paid from the public treasury - be explained and be consistent with the aforementioned principles? What has been said, are some of the grievances of the people around the world, in our region and in your country. But my main contention - which I am hoping you will agree to some of it - is:

Those in power have a specific time in office and do not rule indefinitely, but their names will be recorded in history and will be constantly judged in the immediate and distant futures.

The people will scrutinize our presidencies.

Did we mange to bring peace, security and prosperity for the people or insecurity and unemployment?

Did we intend to establish justice or just supported especial interest groups, and by forcing many people to live in poverty and hardship, made a few people rich and powerful - thus trading the approval of the people and the Almighty with theirs?

Did we defend the rights of the underprivileged or ignore them?

Did we defend the rights of all people around the world or imposed wars on them, interfered illegally in their affairs, established hellish prisons and incarcerated some of them? Did we bring the world peace and security or raised the specter of intimidation and threats?

Did we tell the truth to our nation and others around the world or presented an inverted version of it?

Were we on the side of people or the occupiers and oppressors?

Did our administrations set out to promote rational behavior, logic, ethics, peace, fulfilling obligations, justice, service to the people, prosperity, progress and respect for human dignity or the force of guns, intimidation, insecurity, disregard for the people, delaying the progress and excellence of other nations, and trample on people's rights?

And finally, they will judge us on whether we remained true to our oath of office - to serve the people, which is our main task, and the traditions of the prophets - or not?

Mr. President,

How much longer can the world tolerate this situation?

Where will this trend lead the world to?

How long must the people of the world pay for the incorrect decisions of some rulers?

How much longer will the specter of insecurity - raised from the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction - hunt the people of the world?

How much longer will the blood of the innocent men, women and children be spilled on the streets, and people's houses destroyed over their heads?

Are you pleased with the current condition of the world?

Do you think present policies can continue?

If billions of dollars spent on security, military campaigns and troop movement were instead spent on investment and assistance for poor countries, promotion of health, combating different diseases, education and improvement of mental and physical fitness, assistance to the victims of natural disasters, creation of employment opportunities and production, development projects and poverty alleviation, establishment of peace, mediation between disputing states, and extinguishing the flames of racial, ethnic and other conflicts, were would the world be today? Would not your government and people be justifiably proud?

Would not your administration's political and economic standing have been stronger?

And I am most sorry to say, would there have been an ever increasing global hatred of the American government?

Mr. President, it is not my intention to distress anyone.

If Prophet Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Ishmael, Joseph, or Jesus Christ (PBUH) were with us today, how would they have judged such behavior? Will we be given a role to play in the promised world, where justice will become universal and Jesus Christ (PBUH) will be present? Will they even accept us?
My basic question is this: Is there no better way to interact with the rest of the world? Today there are hundreds of millions of Christians, hundreds of millions of Muslims and millions of people who follow the teachings of Moses (PBUH). All divine religions share and respect one word and that is 'monotheism' or belief in a single God and no other in the world.

The Holy Koran stresses this common word and calls on all followers of divine religions and says: [3.64] Say: O followers of the Book! Come to an equitable proposition between us and you that we shall not serve any but Allah and (that) we shall not associate aught with Him, and (that) some of us shall not take others for lords besides Allah; but if they turn back, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims. (The Family of Imran)

Mr. President,

According to divine verses, we have all been called upon to worship one God and follow the teachings of divine Prophets.

'To worship a God which is above all powers in the world and can do all He pleases.' 'The Lord which knows that which is hidden and visible, the past and the future, knows what goes on in the Hearts of His servants and records their deeds.'

'The Lord who is the possessor of the heavens and the earth and all universe is His court' 'planning for the universe is done by His hands, and gives His servants the glad tidings of mercy and forgiveness of sins' 'He is the companion of the oppressed and the enemy of oppressors' 'He is the Compassionate, the Merciful' 'He is the recourse of the faithful and guides them towards the light from darkness' 'He is witness to the actions of His servants' 'He calls on servants to be faithful and do good deeds, and asks them to stay on the path of righteousness and remain steadfast' 'Calls on servants to heed His prophets and He is a witness to their deeds' 'A bad ending belongs only to those who have chosen the life of this world and disobey Him and oppress His servants' and 'A good end and eternal paradise belong to those servants who fear His majesty and do not follow their lascivious selves.

We believe a return to the teachings of the divine prophets is the only road leading to salvation. I have been told that Your Excellency follows the teachings of Jesus (PBUH) and believes in the divine promise of the rule of the righteous on Earth.

We also believe that Jesus Christ (PBUH) was one of the great prophets of the Almighty. He has been repeatedly praised in the Koran. Jesus (PBUH) has been quoted in Koran as well: [19.36] And surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord, therefore serve Him; this is the right path. Marium

Service to and obedience of the Almighty is the credo of all divine messengers.

The God of all people in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the Pacific and the rest of the world is one. He is the Almighty who wants to guide and give dignity to all His servants. He has given greatness to Humans.

We again read in the Holy Book: 'The Almighty God sent His prophets with miracles and clear signs to guide the people and show them divine signs and purify them from sins and pollutions. And He sent the Book and the balance so that the people display justice and avoid the rebellious'.

All of the above verses can be seen, one way or the other, in the Good Book as well.

Divine prophets have promised: The day will come when all humans will congregate before the court of the Almighty, so that their deeds are examined. The good will be directed towards Heaven and evildoers will meet divine retribution. I trust both of us believe in such a day, but it will not be easy to calculate the actions of rulers, because we must be answerable to our nations and all others whose lives have been directly or indirectly affected by our actions.

All prophets, speak of peace and tranquility for man - based on monotheism, justice and respect for human dignity.

Do you not think that if all of us come to believe in and abide by these principles, that is, monotheism, worship of God, justice, respect for the dignity of man, belief in the Last Day, we can overcome the present problems of the world - that are the result of disobedience to the Almighty and the teachings of prophets - and improve our performance? Do you not think that belief in these principles promotes and guarantees peace, friendship and justice? Do you not think that the aforementioned written or unwritten principles are universally respected? Will you not accept this invitation? That is, a genuine return to the teachings of prophets, to monotheism and justice, to preserve human dignity and obedience to the Almighty and His prophets?

Mr. President,

History tells us that repressive and cruel governments do not survive. God has entrusted the fate of men to them. The Almighty has not left the universe and humanity to their own devices.

Many things have happened contrary to the wishes and plans of governments. These tell us that there is a higher power at work and all events are determined by Him.

Can one deny the signs of change in the world today? Is the situation of the world today comparable to that of ten years ago? Changes happen fast and come at a furious pace.

The people of the world are not happy with the status quo and pay little heed to the promises and comments made by a number of influential world leaders. Many people around the world feel insecure and oppose the spreading of insecurity and war and do not approve of and accept dubious policies.

The people are protesting the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots and the rich and poor countries.

The people are disgusted with increasing corruption.

The people of many countries are angry about the attacks on their cultural foundations and the disintegration of families. They are equally dismayed with the fading of care and compassion. The people of the world have no faith in international organizations, because their rights are not advocated by these organizations.

Liberalism and Western style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity. Today these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the Liberal democratic systems.

We increasingly see that people around the world are flocking towards a main focal point - that is the Almighty God. Undoubtedly through faith in God and the teachings of the prophets, the people will conquer their problems. My question for you is: 'Do you not want to join them?'

Mr. President,

Whether we like it or not, the world is gravitating towards faith in the Almighty and justice and the will of God will prevail over all things.

Vasalam Ala Man Ataba' al hoda

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Mahmood Ahmadinejad

Mea Culpa

2006-05-10T21:26:00.000+03:00

I admit I was wrong.

Although I expected the worst, nothing happened. The demonstration was democratic and peaceful. Thank God and Nasrallah and Aoun for that!

The simple fact that hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets again without incident should be applauded, especially after the Achrafieh debacle.
Christians and Muslims demonstrating together for whatever cause is good, however what will be excellent is for Christians and Muslims building a prosperous Lebanon together.

Come to think about it, this demonstration should humble Saad Hariri and Walid Jumblat and make them seriously think about ending corruption and spurring development ...maybe. However, I do not think that an ex-jet setter like Saad Hariri or a war criminal like Jumblat care much about the greater mass of poor Lebanese, except for those who call them Sheikh or Beik.

Unfortunately, the same goes for the General and the Sayyed and all the remaining "national dialogue" leaders.

What happened today showed that a great many Lebanese are fed up! They want a better life and they deserve it after what they went through the past 30 years.

The current government should act fast and revive the economy and prove to all those who called for its resignation today that they were wrong, like I was yesterday.

The "Let's Kill Tourism" Demonstration

2006-05-09T07:14:00.000+03:00

Pictures Special for Beirut Notes (N)

Views from Byblos, Roman baths in Beirut and inside an 18th Century Greek Orthodox Church and a Mosque in Beirut.

The number of tourists visiting Lebanon has increased 18 percent so far this year as compared to 2004 which was a record year.

And Syria and Iran's allies and the power-crazed-Hafez-Assad-Saddam-Hussein-wannabe ex-general and permanent nut, Michel Aoun are taking their frustrations to the streets.
Lebanon becoming a democratic country with borders, a vibrant economy and an open society, where Islam and Christianity live in harmony is not their plan.

The spiteful hordes of Iran, Syria and Christian Aounistan are determined to ruin the chance that regional circumstances gave us to build a nation and an economy.

Byblos, the roman baths, our ancient churches and mosques, our rich history and the summer season mean nothing to those who care about loftier causes than the prosperity of Lebanon.

They have great causes indeed. The well being of the Assad family, the Iranian nuclear bomb and last but not least transferring the Presidency from a suntanned egocentric general with a lisp to a paranoid self obsessed nut of a general with an eye twitch.

Great plans indeed. Let us all join the Let's Kill Tourism and Prosperity demonstration tomorrow.

Istanbul "Çok Güzel"

2006-04-24T23:06:00.000+03:00

(Beirut Notes Pictures)
Captions: All kinds of Olives in Istanbul's Spice Market, Views of Istanbul, Hassan and Hussein Medallions in the New Mosque and Attaturk banners.

Forget Dubai, Beirut should take its cue from Istanbul, one of the world's "çok güzel" (very beautiful) cities.

A few days ago when I entered the Aya or Sancta or Hagia (from the Arabic Hajj, according to my not-very-informed tour guide) Sofia in Istanbul and I saw the portrait of the Virgin Mary baring Jesus in her hands alongside black medallions with the names of Allah, Mohammed, Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, Ali and Hassan and Hussein, I thought: that is it! That is the solution to our problems.

Attaturk understood. No church, no mosque but a museum. The Aya Sofia was a church for 900 years and a mosque for 400, and when Mustapha Kamel Attaturk wanted to resolve the claim of religious authorities to the superb edifice, he turned it into a public museum in 1935.

The mix of Shia, Sunni and Christian symbolism under the same secular roof is a great achievement. And Attaturk was great. He created a nation that will sooner or later become part of the EU.

Although secularism in Turkey is at risk today because of democracy and the re-emergence of political Islam, Attaturk’s presence, 38 years after his death, is still strong through the powerful Turkish army and his ever present portraits around the city. And compared to the ugly faces of Lebanese, Arab and Iranian leaders that decorate our streets and our psyche, Attaturk looks like a Hollywood movie star.

Istanbul is a European city in its architecture and its rich culture, even its mosques are European in character. Indeed all the ones I saw in Istanbul are totally different from the ones in our part of the world. The most famous Ottoman architect, Sinan, built the Suleimaniya Mosque based on the norms of the Aya Sofia and ever since religious architecture in Turkey has been heavily influenced by his style.

Although, the Attaturk airport was full of men in white towels and women dressed in white hijab going to the Hajj in Mecca, a Christian priest and an Orthodox Jewish couple looked completely at ease among them. The scene at the Airport is a small microcosm of Istanbul where I saw a lot of bearded men, veiled women and burka-clad ones in the market, but unlike their brothers and sisters in Riyadh, they were all smiling.

The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to get close to "its Muslim brothers" in the Arab world, one Turkish journalist told me, but she added that they were rushing into it. Indeed they received the Hamas leaders and the step was not thought through. It was a diplomatic disaster, according to the journalist. Furthermore, the new government is also bungling the Kurdish question.

Economically Turkey is doing great and that is what really matters. Investments are pouring in, people are getting richer and the only way is forward. I hope one day a Turkish tourist could say the same about Lebanon.

From Tony Soprano to Tony Mokbel

2006-04-17T16:27:00.000+03:00

James Gandofini acting as crime boss "Tony Soprano" in "The Sopranos" TV series and his real life look alike, crime boss Tony Mokbel

Australian newspapers reported yesterday that Tony Mokbel, the “godfather” from down under, has escaped his country’s justice system and found refuge in his country of origin, Lebanon.
He faces a nine-year jail term for cocaine trafficking and is under investigation for gangland murders in Melbourne.
A source told The Herald Sun that Mokbel had many investments in Beirut, including an interest in the multi-million dollar St Georges Marina, part of the massive post-war reconstruction of the city heart.

Following is The Australian Age’s story on how Tony Mokbel became a millionaire drug and crime lord:

“Underworld godfather Tony Mokbel would have lost his liberty this week - but he is not around to serve his jail term. John Silvester profiles the small man who wanted big things.

It was just a little stumble that spilt the tin that caused the fire that led to the explosion that brought the firemen who called the police who found the amphetamine laboratory that Tony built.

The lab, in a quiet residential street in Brunswick, had proved to be a virtual goldmine, pumping out speed until the day Paul Edward Howden kicked over a bucket of solvents that ignited and burnt the house down in February 1997. Police didn't have far to look for the main suspect. They found Howden at The Alfred hospital being treated for severe burns to 30 per cent of his body.

Police also discovered the lab had produced 41.25 kilograms of pure methylamphetamine with a potential street value of $78 million. Prosecutors claimed the clandestine operation had produced enough speed for 1.3 million users. "It is the largest seizure of methylamphetamine in Victoria and it's the largest detected manufacture of methylamphetamine in the state," the County Court was told. Even the trial judge, Graeme Crossley, seemed impressed. "I can't believe how big it is," he said.

Howden's barrister, the energetic Con Heliotis, QC, told the court his client was just a minor player who agreed to the plan out of loyalty to a friend — the godfather to one of his three children — identified only as "Tony". For his work in the massively profitable enterprise, Heliotis claimed Howden was paid just $10,000 in home renovations.

Police agreed that Howden, a plumber by trade, was the stooge of the operation and Heliotis helpfully added that his client was "just short of stupid". When he jailed Howden for four years, Judge Crossley took into account his minnow status: "You were a factory roustabout rather than the managing director."

The managing director was Godfather Tony — who was never formally identified in court — but police needed only to look over the badly charred side fence to solve the mystery. The house next door was one of many owned by the Mokbel family.

Tony Mokbel was said to have lost millions when the lab was discovered but he was a master at finding advantage in adversity. While the court was told Howden was the official owner of the speed lab house the property was soon absorbed into the growing Mokbel Empire. The extended Mokbel family knocked down the burnt shell to extend their garden, planting a mature palm worth $15,000 to go with the new swimming pool. Long before Tony Mokbel became the public face of drug dealing in Victoria, children in the street referred to the million-dollar property as "the drug house".

Meanwhile, Howden, the burnt patsy, would never tell detectives who funded the venture — and "Tony" would not forget his loyalty. During Howden's sentence Mokbel would regularly drive to the jail to visit, even persuading prison officers to let him take his friend for an unauthorised trip to a local McDonald's for a break from prison food.

When Howden, 36, died of heart disease in December 2001 Mokbel placed a death notice in the Herald Sun that read in part: "You will always be in my prayers and I will never ever forget you. I promise to you my friend to be there for your family till the day I die." It was a Mokbel trademark. You never forget a friend — or an enemy.

While police had known for years that Mokbel was involved in drug manufacturing it was the Brunswick lab fire that showed that the businessman on the make had become a major player in the underworld. Yesterday Tony Mokbel was finally sentenced to a minimum of nine years in prison after he was found guilty of cocaine trafficking, but he was not in court to hear his fate. Mokbel jumped bail days before his trial was completed. He is now Australia's most wanted man.

ANTONIOS SAJIH MOKBEL WAS ONE OF the sharper students at Coburg's racially diverse Moreland High School in the late 1970s but he was never going to push on to tertiary study. The boy with the rich Lebanese heritage and traditional Australian tastes was always in a hurry to make money. His first full-time job was as a dishwasher at a suburban nightclub before he became a waiter, later working security, a surprising choice for a man no bigger that a football rover. But Mokbel was smooth. He found he could often persuade people to his point of view without overt violence.

Like many ambitious young men on the make, Mokbel soon realised that if he were to acquire the sort of money he wanted, he would have to make his own running. It was in those early years, too, that Mokbel noticed that people partying often lost their inhibitions, and were prepared to pay well for a good time.

In 1984, aged just 19, he bought his first business — a struggling Rosanna milk bar. For two years he and his young partner, Carmel — whom he would marry in 1989 and with whom he would have two children — worked long hours seven days a week battling to make a living before finally selling out for their original investment price.

It would be the one and only time Mokbel didn't seem to make massive profits in his business ventures, despite an early police report saying he "lacked financial acumen".

In 1987 he bought an Italian restaurant in Boronia. In those days he was content to roll the dough — years later he was rolling in it. He steadily built the business, expanding when he bought the shop next door. He sold the restaurant as a going concern in 1994 but kept ownership of the building.

In 1997 he opened T Jays Restaurant in Sydney Road, Brunswick, after buying several adjoining properties and he started to be noticed as an ambitious developer with an appetite for consuming businesses. By 2000 the former struggling milk bar proprietor bragged to friends he owned or controlled 38 different companies.

In the same year he began his most ambitious development. An $18 million 10-storey "winged keel" apartment tower over Sydney Road. The plan was to build 120 apartments and townhouses, offices, restaurants, gym with pool and a four-storey car park on the old Whelan the Wrecker site. No one seemed to wonder how he could generate that sort of money.

At the same time he was also developing 10 units in Templestowe that he planned to sell for $300,000 each. In 2000 he owned the Brunswick market site and claimed to make $500,000 a year in rent money.

His business portfolio was as wide as it was impressive with interests in shops, cafes, fashions, fragrances, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs and land in regional Victoria. He and his companies owned two white vans, two Commodores, a red Audi, a 2000 silver Mercedes, a Nissan Skyline and a red Ferrari Roadster that he bought in September 1999. He even managed to give his wife a Kilmore pub as part of the family businesses. One of his fashion houses was appropriately named LSD — apparently an abbreviation for Love of Style and Design. It was apparently the drug dealer's idea of a private joke.

BUT IT WAS NOT THROUGH DRUG DEALING or shady business dealings that Mokbel first started to develop a questionable public profile but through one of his other great passions — gambling. In later years, with nearly $20 million of his assets frozen he took to describing himself as a professional punter — even though he was banned from racetracks and casinos as an undesirable.

For years Mokbel was known as the type of punter who used inside information to keep the odds on his side. He was the leader of the notorious tracksuit gang — a group responsible for a series of highly suspicious late cash plunges on racetracks in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

His team once won $500,000 and demanded to be paid in green $100 bills after lodging the bets with the older grey notes in what was a clear money laundering exercise.

Some bookies refused to lay credit bets for Mokbel because he was often forgetful on collection day. One claimed he lost more than $1 million from the non-payer.

In 1998, racing officials launched an investigation into the ownership of nine horses linked to Tony and Carmel Mokbel. The following year the Victoria Racing Club banned them from racing horses.

But racing experts say Mokbel continued to own horses although they were officially under the names of friends and associates. He used the same strategy in "legitimate" business, hiding his interests under the names of friends and family.

During the 2001 police investigation into Mokbel, police found the prolific drug dealer had strong links to seven jockeys and trainers. Phone taps picked up his regular conversations with three leading jockeys, but racing authorities were powerless to act, as the phone taps could not be released for a non-criminal investigation.

Mokbel was finally arrested in 2001 on drugs charges. In 2004 — while on $1 million bail and despite having his assets frozen — he told friends that he had won nearly $400,000 on the Melbourne Cup. He was also seen punting heavily at the Oaks two days later, backing three winners in a row, including the appropriately named Hollow Bullet.

The public display so angered senior police they moved with racing clubs to ban him from the Melbourne casino and Victorian racetracks. Several years earlier, in late 2000, Mokbel had begun an affair with Danielle Maguire. She was not the only woman in his life, but he was living with her when he disappeared on March 20 this year — days before his cocaine trial was due to finish. Maguire — who has been unable to help police in their inquiries as to his whereabouts — is the ex-girlfriend of Mark Moran, a drug-dealing standover man who was murdered on June 15, 2000. When Mokbel was arrested in 2001 he and Maguire were living in a Port Melbourne bayside penthouse that he rented for $1250 a week. He told friends he enjoyed the relaxed seaside lifestyle and planned to buy the property.

SO HOW DID TONY MOKBEL GRADUATE from dishwasher to unknown amphetamine dealer and then to the Hollywood crime cliche of the millionaire, Ferrari-driving drug baron with the beautiful girlfriend and the celebrity lifestyle?

It began modestly and in the early days he was more bumbling crook than master criminal. In 1992 Mokbel was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice after a clumsy bid two years earlier to bribe a County Court judge was undone in a police sting. He was trying to shop for a "bent judge" who would give an associate a suspended sentence for drug trafficking.

Mokbel and two others were arrested as he handed over $2000 as the first of $53,000 that was supposed to have gone to the judge. Part of the "agreed" payment was to be made in cocaine.

In 1998 he was convicted over amphetamine manufacturing but beat the charge on appeal. His lawyers successfully argued he should not have been charged with amphetamine trafficking when the drug he was handling was pseudo-ephedrine — a drug that could be used to make amphetamines.

Inmates in prison remember Mokbel as "cunning and a fast learner". His main lesson was the need to insulate himself from hands-on drug dealing and only use middlemen he could trust.

According to police he was one of the first of the major drug dealers to move into the designer pill industry, pressing tablets for the nightclub crowd.

According to the UN, Australia has the highest use of ecstasy per capita in the world and the second for amphetamines. Mokbel could cater for both markets, manufacturing speed in Australia and importing ecstasy from Europe. And for his top-shelf clients he smuggled cocaine via Mexico.

He had pill presses hidden in Coburg and Brooklyn and the consummate networker developed his own team that included an industrial chemist, rogue police, a locksmith, dock-workers, jockeys, trainers, a pill press repairer, distributors and cargo bonds officials. He had used two brothers as local speed lab cooks but also sourced drugs from Sydney.

His profits jumped from large to massive. Convinced he was born lucky, Mokbel started to spend $20,000 a week on Tattslotto. It was more than a Saturday night interest. First division wins and big plunges on the track helped launder drug money into punter's dividends. (Some of his laundering efforts were less successful. It was rumoured he left millions hidden in a large washing machine but that the cash mysteriously disappeared after an unwelcome late-night visit.)

No drug trafficker, no matter how powerful, can work alone and Mokbel was to develop an extensive underworld network, although his contact list has somewhat shrunk due to Melbourne's gangland war. Among his associates have been Nik Radev (killed in April 2003), Willie Thompson (July 2003), Michael Marshall (October 2003), Andrew Veniamin (March 2004), Lewis Moran (March 2004), and Mario Condello (February 2006).

As Mokbel's wealth and profile grew so did the interests of drug squad detectives. Two police investigations into him failed but a third, set up in 2000 called Operation Kayak began to track the activities of the massive drug dealer.

It would be a trusted insider who worked as a police informer who would destroy him. The informer, who has since fled the country, eventually became an ethical standards department source and helped expose corruption within the drug squad.

Only after the informer took them inside the secret world of Tony Mokbel were police able to establish the unprecedented size of the empire. First there was his fake, or pseudo-ecstasy, business. Using locally produced amphetamines mixed with other available drugs he pressed millions of tablets. He told his friends he made them for $3 a pill and sold them for $12 to $14.

He also imported hundreds of thousands of MDMA ecstasy from Europe paying $4 and selling for $17 in minimum 1000 lots. Still not satisfied at quadrupling his money he would sometimes crush the pills and re-press them at half strength to double his profits.

In late 2000 he told the informer he was part of a team importing 500,000 ecstasy tablets although he said his normal shipments were about 75,000 tablets. The load arrived in a container ship and cleared Melbourne docks just before Christmas.

He had also planned a 3-million-pill importation worth more than $50 million in March or April 2001. It is not known if it landed. But always keen to explore new drug markets he bought 80,000 LSD tablets for $5 a tablet, later being told by a colleague he was ripped off.

In August 2001 Mokbel was finally arrested over importing barrels of the chemical ephedrine to make an estimated 40 million amphetamine based pseudo ecstasy tablets. Police estimated the 550 kilograms of the chemical turned into pills would have had a street value of $2 billion.

The charges didn't stick, but it was the beginning of the end for Mokbel. His business assets were frozen after his arrest and were managed by the National Australia Bank, which had loaned him millions for his property developments. But without regular cash injections from his drug operations the loans could not be serviced and his empire collapsed.

Mokbel was also charged by federal police over importing three kilograms of cocaine from Mexico, an enterprise that Mokbel dismissed as "just rent money". Rent money or not it was a compelling case. Even his lawyers advised him to plead guilty for a reduced sentence.

But the punter was keen to back the long shot. Mokbel knew that many major drug cases had been delayed because some drug squad detectives had been charged with corruption. He pleaded not guilty and in 2002 was bailed after 12 months in jail. He was to report twice daily at a local police station but at one stage had the conditions altered so that he could take his children to Gold Coast theme parks. He naturally stayed at his own idea of an adventure playground, Jupiter's Casino.

During the long court delays, Mokbel informally approached detectives offering a deal. He would plead guilty and guarantee two other drug dealers would also plead if they received only two years each. Then, he explained, all those nasty corruption allegations would disappear. It would be business as usual.

But there were no deals and one of the traffickers was sentenced to five years and the second to 11.

During the trial Mokbel remained relaxed — even to the point of appearing cocky — a puzzling performance considering his defence veered from ludicrous to laughable.

But with the trial close to complete Mokbel looked a beaten man. It was either that he knew his dream run was over or that he had learned even more disturbing news. Tony Mokbel, the hands-off drug dealer, was under investigation for murder by the Purana gangland taskforce. Mokbel was told that he was being investigated by the Purana gangland taskforce over at least one — and possibly more — underworld murders, including that of Mario Condello, who was shot dead at his Brighton East home on February 6.

The puppet-master who pulled the strings was no longer looking at a long, but manageable jail term for drug trafficking. If charged and convicted of a gangland murder he was facing life with no minimum.

The man who always reported for bail at the South Melbourne police station just disappeared on March 20. He left his three mobile phones, his girlfriend, his frozen assets, his city apartment and his public image profile and walked away.

Without a client, his legal team, led by Con Heliotis, withdrew but as all evidence had been led Justice Gillard allowed the case to continue. He was found guilty of drug trafficking on Tuesday and yesterday sentenced in absentia.

"I think he has had an exit strategy in place for some time," one policeman who has worked on him for years says. "Tony never liked to back losers."”

Notes & Pictures

2006-03-20T07:57:00.000+02:00

(Pictures by Beirut Notes)
Wild donkeys in the Nothern Emirates or Lebanese Voters (myself included)? A "Sikh supporter of Michel Aoun" wearing an orange turban?

- Pierre Daher has reportedly sold more than 80 percent of LBC-SAT to Prince Waleed Bin Talal. The Prince had bought 49 percent of LBC-SAT by swapping his shares in Sheikh Saleh Kamel's ART (Arab Radio and TV) network with Kamel's shares in LBC. The deal was evaluated at US$90 million.
The Prince bought the remaining shares at an amount exceeding US$100 million, according to industry insiders.
The CEO of LBC, Pierre El Daher, had to sell the shares to pay back Samir Geagea. The latter will get $100 million and Daher will keep for himself anything above that.

- Lebanese students at the American University of Dubai are complaining that the Lebanese university staff and teachers are mostly composed of Syrian Nationalists.

- The son of late PM Rafic Hariri, Fahed Hariri, bought a flat in the same Dubai appartment complex as Rami Makhlouf, a Syrian "oligarch" and Bashar Assad's cousin.

- Surrounded by mountains peaking at 1,930 meters, the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah is the next UAE success story.
Among the major investors attracted to this emirate is Hariri's Saudi Oger which is developing a US$500 million tourism complex covering over 1 million square meters across three islands and containing three five-star hotels, 200 villas, and cultural and commercial venues.
A Lebanese advisor to the emirate's Crown Prince, Khater Massaad, is heading the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority that is transforming this once sleepy town.

Dubai Got Soul!

2006-03-18T15:21:00.000+02:00

(Pictures by Beirut Notes)
The Dubai Skyline, yoga in a public garden, the morning sun and a very special afternoon nap

Dubai is not the artificial city I knew. It not only lives but it never sleeps.
It is cosmopolitan, multicultural and free.
Relatively to Lebanon, people here are not judged because of their race or religion, they are judged by their success. It is harsh but fair.
There are beggars, bums, congestions, prostitutes, bar brawls, and passports are being given to long term residents, no matter what their religion is.
This reminds me Israeli PM David Ben Gurion who said: "When Israel has prostitutes and thieves we'll be a state just like any other."
Dubai today is a city like any other.

I walked early one morning along the city's busy "khor" or seal canal promenade where small wooden boats come from India and Iran to trade spices, rice, tires, cars, tvs, dvds, and anything that a large enough dhow can carry.

The promenade is full of merchandise and the smell of spice is in the air. Pakistani, Iranian, Indian and African seamen are busy transporting goods from and to their parked dhows. There are no policemen, no customs, there is just a fixed camera monitoring the boats that enter and leave the estuary.

The Lebanese community is prominent and powerful. It is sometimes referred to as “the Lebanese mafia” especially in sectors that we dominate like advertising and higher education. Sometimes, when we outfox them in a business deal, the Brits derogatorily call us “Lebos” as in “Pakis” for Pakistanis.
Indeed there is a healthy business competition between communities, but at the end of the day everyone works with everyone else.

Transparency International declared the UAE the least corrupt Arab country. That is not completely true because even corruption here has been privatized.
Indeed, a portfolio manager in Abu Dhabi told me today that Emaar, one of the largest real estate developers in the world, has manipulated its stock price through its brokerage subsidiary. And Shuaa, a prominent local investment bank, helped it by releasing its stock analysis in coordination with Emaar. This is Wall Street style corruption which if true is criminal but at least it is sophisticated.

Maybe our dear Lebanese leaders should start learning the basics of insider trading and stop "shorting" our lives.

Many Lebanese, including myself, comparing Dubai to Beirut, used to say with pride that "at least Beirut has culture and a soul" but even that is no longer relevant.
If I am wrong and I hope I am, I am sure that our Lebanese Sheikhs of war and their racist and secterian flocks will destroy the little added value that Beirut might still have.

$260 billion down and I am not stressing

2006-03-15T16:13:00.000+02:00

Away from Lebanon, I am actually a very productive person. I do not talk politics, I do not think politics, I work hard, I do not stress until I see a picture of “them” early in the morning or late at night on TV and in local papers laughing, eating, meeting while everyone else in Lebanon is worrying.
Here, in Dubai, it is me that is laughing, eating and meeting, even though financial markets in the Gulf lost more than $260 billion dollars in value since the beginning of the year.
My head is full of projects, I am busy meeting interesting people from all walks of life, nationalities and religions. We all have a common interest: our savings account.

Just yesterday I was talking about biotechnology projects in the region. Not feasible I thought, but Dubai has a way of surprising everyone.
Indeed biotech needs PhDs and great universities and high tech labs and scientists and forward looking entrepreneurs and lots of money.
Dubai has lots of money and the iron will of its ruler, Mohammed Bin Rashed. But that is not enough, say experts in the field.
But they forget that Dubai has become a global metropolis on well invested money and pure will power. The biotech park and the region’s liquidity will attract the best and brightest from the Arab world, the Indian subcontinent, Iran, south-east Asia and even Eastern Europe. Look at what Russian scientists did in Israel.

There are developments in finance, telecommunications, industry and media. Project after project, day after day, Dubai is a city that never sleeps on a business deal.

Although yesterday was “black Tuesday” in Dubai, (the Dubai Financial Market lost more than 10 percent of its value on that day), everyone I met was smiling. The correction was bound to occur after a 200 percent rise over the last year and a half.

In my Lebanon, a bunch of politicians met to solve their ego problems. “They” met and decided to meet again. ”They” met and agreed on a bunch of points that have absolutely no impact on my meagre bank account. “They” met and closed the heart of the city and made the local shopkeepers and restaurant owners poorer.

I’ll exchange our leaders for a good stock market crash like the one in Dubai at any time.
Is there anyone out there that is willing to take them? Maybe for a little biotech experiment…leaders, leaders…Lebanese leaders…take them and we will pay.

Hope is the worst of evils

2006-03-07T15:18:00.000+02:00

An hour and half after the national dialogue was suddenly cut short, Nabih Berri held a press conference. Saad Hariri and Samir Geagea were by his side and Ghazi El Aridi, Jumblat's representative, was seen leaving.
Absent were Michel Aoun, Hassan Nasrallah and any of their representatives.

Berri gave the whole matter a positive spin and said that the participants have to think things through and should come back on Monday to settle matters.

More pro-US than ever, Jumblat is confrontational and is not ready to compromise with Iran and Syria and its allies in Lebanon.
Last Sunday Walid Jumblat said to Fares Khashan in Al Mustaqbal newspaper that the talks were a Syrian and Iranian trap. He followed up yesterday with a speech from the Brookings Institution in Washington DC where he called for the US to help Lebanon against Syrian influence. He also said that Hezbollah should give up its weapons.

Al Manar, Hezbollah's television, described Jumblat's US intervention as a "bombardment from Washington", adding that his words were one of the main reasons behind the break up.

"We have no magic wand," said ex-President Amine Gemayel, "we are dealing with problems that are 30 years old."
He added that "God willing we will return to the table next Monday."

It is obvious that something went wrong today, and that Aoun and Nasrallah had something to do with it.

The sticking point is the military wing of Hezbollah that will never give up its weapons, structure or its decision to wage war against Israel. The fanaticism of Hezbollah is dangerous and will surely lead Lebanon into dangerous grounds.
Hezbollah cannot afford to wage an armed conflict with any local party, but it will rather give the green light to its pro-Syrian allies to wage a bombing campaign.

Michel Aoun, who is totally blinded by his presidential ambitions, knows the true nature of his new found partner but is ready to compromise with Hezbollah until a change occurs in the regional balance of power. Aoun is playing his own version of ostrich politics.

Tensions in Lebanon will remain until the military and political defeat of either Iran or the US in the region.

Although, we all wish that Berri is right and that a compromise will be reached next Monday, the truth is that the best we can hope for is for these tensions to remain political and not turn violent.

It seems that Nietzche was referring to Lebanon when he said: "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man".

A Marketplace for Regional Conflicts

2006-03-06T15:02:00.000+02:00

How can the national dialogue succeed when the participants are intrinsically linked to regional and international powers?

It is obvious that Hezbollah will not relinquish its weapons or its monopoly on war and peace with Israel. Hezbollah's weapons serve not only its community but also Iranian and Syrian interests.
After all, besides the religious link, Iran supplies its weapons and over US$500 million dollars in cash and Syria gets the weapons to their destination.
If Hezbollah was truly Lebanese it would say that it will give up its weapons when the Lebanese army decides that it can take over the South's security, but that is not the case.
Instead Hezbollah leaders are saying that their weapons are sacred and that they are the only party with the truth.
President Emile Lahoud and the ever-interfering Bashar Assad are their main allies.

On the other hand, Saad Hariri, Walid Jumblat and Samir Geagea represent the backers of UNSC resolution 1559. Hariri, like his father before him, does not take clear stands and leaves Jumblat and Geagea to do the confronting. And like Hezbollah, the March 14 coalition thinks that the truth is on its side. Jumblat made it clear that he will not barter the president he so much despises with the recognition of Hezbollah's right to bear arms. After more than 28 years on the wrong side, Jumblat is finally right but confronting Hezbollah will probably lead to a new civil war.

The third party, Michel Aoun, is interested in one thing only and that is to become president. And this unquenchable thirst of his is leading him to join whatever side promises him Lahoud's place. In 1989 he allied himself with the Iraqis when both the Syrians and the US blocked his path and today he is joining the Iranian bandwagon.

Whether in public speeches or in secretive conferences these facts are not going to change. Lebanon will remain a marketplace for regional conflicts.

This is why the dialogue that has been going on since last Thursday is not going to be the success that the Lebanese have wished for.

The best possible outcome of the talks will be something very uninspiring. All sides will probably say that they want the truth, they want a dialogue with the Palestinian militias concerning their weapons and that further dialogue is needed concerning the Shebaa Farms, Hezbollah’s weapons, the President and the relations with Syria.

And a few days later the fiery speeches will resume until the next talks, until the next bomb or until there is a clear winner or loser in the regional conflict opposing the US and its allies to Iran and its allies. Meanwhile, more and more Lebanese will emigrate and the remaining will get poorer and poorer.

It is unfortunate but it seems that Lebanon is a prisoner of its history. I sincerely wish that I am wrong.

............................................
Honoray Garbage Collector

Jumblat once said that he would rather be "a garbage collector in New York than a leader in Lebanon", maybe he would get that honour after his meetings with Condoleezza Rice and Paul Wolfowitz in Washington DC today. Maybe he can employ me as his deputy and take me away from this mess.

Philippe Jabre: The Return of the Hedge Fund "Legend"

2006-03-04T12:04:00.000+02:00

The Financial Times published this article today praising the talent and survival skills of Philippe Jabre, one of the leading hedge fund managers in the world:

"An unbeaten risk-taker
>By Stephen Schurr

Even for the most extraordinary skier, neither acumen nor experience can prepare oneself for the mortal threat of an avalanche. Philippe Jabre learnt this last year.

Last February, Mr Jabre, then the star trader for London hedge fund GLG Partners, was skiing in Courchevel with his wife Zaza, a client and two guides when a huge mass of snow rapidly descended upon them. When the avalanche hit, his wife was submerged. Mr Jabre and his companions spent 23 minutes trying to find her and dig her out, with the odds of her survival dwindling by the minute. Miraculously, she survived, capping her recovery in January with a return to the slopes at the French ski resort where they own a home.

Mr Jabre also faced down two powerful forces in his professional life in 2005 that threatened to submerge him. The first was a near-cataclysm in the credit market that put his GLG Market Neutral fund down 18 per cent through May. The fund posted a remarkable recovery, capped by a double-digit return in December that put it up 5.47 per cent for the year.

The second was the UK Financial Services Authority’s investigation into his February 2003 trades in Japan’s Sumitomo after he received information about a coming convertible-bond deal from Goldman Sachs. It was the most high-profile regulatory probe in the history of the London hedge-fund community.

The latter reached its conclusion this week, with the FSA’s Regulatory Decisions Committee deciding to fine Mr Jabre and his former firm GLG £750,000 (€1.09m) apiece, determining that the trader and, in turn, his firm violated market conduct and committed market abuse.

The fine against Mr Jabre, born 45 years ago to a prominent Lebanese Catholic family, was the largest ever meted out to an individual. Despite the penalty, the RDC ruling marked the third time Mr Jabre evaded a dreadful fate. The judicial panel decided that Mr Jabre did not deliberately commit market abuse, ruling that he did not violate the FSA’s Principle 1 governing market integrity. Against the FSA regulators’ recommendation, the RDC opted not to ban or suspend Mr Jabre.

That he emerged with his licence intact can be seen as miraculous in some regards. When the two-year investigation came to light last year, it seemed to many in London’s hedge fund set a clear-cut case that would end with Mr Jabre’s head on a platter. As the investigation wore on, the details became less clear, as is often the case regarding the nebulous terrain of information exchanges between investment banks and hedge funds.

The decision ensures that Mr Jabre, for two decades a prominent fixture in London’s investment community, will have a third act – the first being the spectacular success, the second his near-demise under regulatory scrutiny and the third his potential return to running money. The course of the third act may not go smoothly. He will not be returning to GLG and he must re-register to run money if he plans to start a new fund – meaning the FSA once again holds the key to his future.

Mr Jabre was not available for comment. But several prominent individuals in the London hedge fund community said that whatever the outcome, the third act will be as closely followed as the first two because of his stature.

“Philippe is a hedge fund legend,” said a manager at a London fund that operates some strategies similar to GLG. “He is a born money-maker, and there are very few of those out there, even in the hedge fund world.”

Mr Jabre’s personality, according to those who know him well, is that of the quintessential hedge fund manager, only more so. The price of a ticket to this world is an extreme degree of competitiveness, high intelligence and innovative thinking. Mr Jabre established a reputation at a young age in the London investing community as both a risk taker and a brilliant trader. He earned an MBA from New York’s Columbia University in 1982, trained at JPMorgan and soon made his way to BAii, a division of BNP, the French Bank. In his 16 years there, he specialised in the budding market for convertible arbitrage, a strategy that involved buying a company’s convertible bonds and selling short the company’s stock.

Mr Jabre acquired a reputation among critics for operating aggressively. In 1997, he joined GLG Partners, a hot two-year-old hedge fund started by former Goldman Sachs bankers Noam Gottesman, Pierre LaGrange and Jonathan Green. It was developing a reputation as a player in the burgeoning London hedge fund industry, in part on the strength of its access to new offerings, and Mr Jabre’s convertible arbitrage brought a new dimension. “It’s ironic now, given the investigation, but one of GLG’s big moves toward legitimising themselves as a firm was getting Philippe,” said one hedge fund manager who was active in the 1990s.

Mr Jabre’s Market Neutral fund grew to more than $4bn at its peak, returning 23.1 per cent returns on average after fees between 1998 and 2005. According to individuals familiar with his investing style, Mr Jabre’s ability to beat the benchmark by 18 percentage points a year on average was his push to move away from convertible arbitrage and toward more opportunistic trading across various asset classes.

GLG helped Mr Jabre, who has four children, become a rich man, with his personal fortune estimated at £180m-£200m, enabling him to concentrate on charitable efforts, including a focus on Lebanese causes.

However, the two-year FSA investigation caused an irreparable strain in the relationship between GLG’s senior ranks and Mr Jabre. Individuals familiar with the firm say GLG came to view Mr Jabre as someone who took unnecessary risks. One individual described the rift as akin to “a rock group that becomes huge, where their success leads to their eventual break-up”.

While Mr Jabre officially remains on leave, individuals say he will not return to GLG. Mr Jabre will almost certainly look to raise money for his own firm. Some individuals say the FSA could decide to block any attempt by him to set up a new fund in London. But other hedge fund industry participants, however, say the FSA would grant him approval since the RDC did not suspend him.

And no one is questioning Mr Jabre’s continued ability to attract investors. Said one hedge fund manager: “Somebody was asking me the other day whether he could raise money if he starts running his own hedge fund. My God, he’ll almost be killed in the rush.”"

Even when they talk, the heart of Beirut stops

2006-03-01T16:33:00.000+02:00

Due to very tight security, the national dialogue that will start tomorrow has brought downtown Beirut to a standstill for the next 10 days.

The government will not compensate local businesses and the only beneficiary so far is the Etoile Suite hotel that is selling its rooms to the participants at prices ranging from $250 to $1,500 per night.

Even the Ministry of Finance, which is located in Riyad El Solh Square, will be shut for the period and its staff will be relocated to other branches.

Politically, the most important preliminary meeting was held last night in Qoraytem between Saad Hariri and Hassan Nasrallah and it lasted seven hours, according to Future TV.

Furthermore, unless the dialogue is fruitful, Walid Jumblat will attend the national conference that will be held in the Parliament for only four days and then he will be leaving for the United States where he is due to meet among others, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz.

The most important points that will be discussed at the conference will be the removal of President Emile Lahoud, his eventual successor, Hezbollah’s weapons and the relations with Syria.

Most columnists today were pessimistic about the outcome but they added that at least it is a start.

...........................

It will be noted that Marwan Keyrouz, the star of the scandalous film, is the manager of the Etoile Suite. His presence might affect our leaders positively and they might "make love not war", but then again it might affect them negatively and they might do to us what Keyrouz did to his partner in the home made movie.

Rap(p)ing Lebanon

2006-02-28T07:45:00.000+02:00

The Sun reported today that Mohammed Kamel Mostapha, 24, son of Abu Hamza, a cleric with a hook instead of a hand who was jailed in the United Kingdom for insighting hate, is pursuing a solo rap career. He had launched the Lionz Of Da Dezert band last year and is now aiming for solo success.

Mostapha sings the following lyrics:

"I was born to be a soldier,
Kalashnikov in my shoulder,
peace to Hamas and Hezbollah,
that’s the way of the lord Allah . . .
we’re Jihad through,
defend my religion with the holy sword."
(Mostapha/Al Ansari aka MC Hamza)

If only some of the leaders we know could rap as well as MC Hamza, they would probably sound something like this:

I am the Bey I am Jumblat
I look thin but my bank account is fat
I shift right and I shift left
But I'm really good at pure theft
I took from Damascus and from Teheran
I took from the Saudi man and never had a plan
As long as my cash flow is never low
I don't care about your children, yo!
(MC FrogEyes)

Burn Solidere burn the rich
I'll do it if you don't gimme this bitch
She's the presidency and she's mine
I'll audit you all and I'll call you swine
You're maybe criminals but I am crime
You must understand that bitch is mine
(MC General Nutter)

S.A.A.D., Saad is my name
I don't know how I got in that messed up game
I was partying all night
Never been in a fight
Until they killed my dad
And they made me mad
And Like Samson in the Bible whose hair was cut
I'll bring the temple down on everybody's butt
(MC Truth)

I’m the president I’m the king
I’m in awe of my power and my bling
My master is gone and my minions are in jail
I stashed a few millions and I’m ready to bail
I can barely speak but my son is rich
Let Aoun take the chair and deal with this bitch
(MC Mini Prez)

The dictator that’s me and I am the heir
Freddie Kruger was mad but I am your nightmare
The neighbour with the bomb that’ll blow you away
I have servants in your house that’ll make you pay
Condi Bush Chirac, you think they’re your friends
I’ll give them my soldiers in Iraq and make you beg for amends
(MC Scary Neighbour)

I’m the only warlord that paid the price
I admit I killed and wasn’t very nice
Now I’m a new man you can see me on TV
Night after night on the L.B.C.
Preachin’ a wisdom that I only understand
I even joined the 14th of March band
The sea is in front of me and my enemy is behind
The presidency is not Aoun’s she’s mine mine mine
(MC InMate)

Thanks MC Hamza for supporting me
But crazier than thou I will be
I’m not paranoid ‘cause Zion is everywhere
Just listen to your prime minister Tony Blair
My weapons are mine Jumblat can choke
Even if Lebanon will soon go broke
Paris one or two Beirut one or three
I only get my orders from Khamanei
(MC Hammer, God’s Hammer)

Dialogue or Cockfight?

2006-02-27T15:33:00.000+02:00

How can Lebanese secterian leaders with egos of gamecocks meet and start a national dialogue this week? They have always been better at cockfighting than at peacemaking.

Anyway, the following is my definition of a Lebanese cockfight as compared to Wikipedia’s definition:

A Lebanese cockfight is a contest held in a ring called a cockpit, (in this case Lebanon), between warlords. Warlords are not your average Hassan, George, Omar or Marwan. They are specially bred and trained for increased stamina and strength. Morality and feelings are cut off of a young sectarian leader. If left intact, it would be a disadvantage during a strife.

Hassan, Michel, Walid and Samir all possess an inherent aggression toward one another and towards all males of the same party.
Cockfighting is considered a traditional sporting event by some in Lebanon, and an example of human cruelty by others.

Usually Syrian, Iranian, US and French wagers are made on the outcome of the match, with the surviving or last-bird-standing being declared the winner, but that never happens in Lebanon where everyone loses.

In some regional variations, the leading cocks are equipped with secret services tied directly to them. The secret service or Mukhabarat is a group that uses curved, sharp and cruel ways to subdue the opposition.

In many parts of the world cockfighting is illegal.

Regional and international proponents of Lebanese cockfighting believe in breeding, arming and financing warlords to fight their fights.

Not everyone feels this way, however. Those against cockfighting in Lebanon maintain that it is a perversion of the natural behaviour exhibited by politicians in civilized countries.

Most politicians in the world will naturally fight over government contracts, influence, ministerial or governmental appointments, parliamentary seats, territory or mates. But the fight is done through ballot boxes and does not stress the public and ruin the economy.

Lebanese politicians are trained to view their opponents as potentially deadly predators, and they react as such when placed in a fighting arena, where they are usually forced to fight until they can do so no more.

For a long time, it was believed that our fighting leaders could not be retrained to live peacefully. When they saw other leaders, they panicked and attacked.
15 years ago, though, in a small sanctuary in Taef, the world community tried to rehabilitate them.

That operation, however, necessitated important dosages of international pressure, cash and most importantly a Syrian gamekeeper.

Now our local cocks are facing one another again around a table without the cruel gamekeeper or the rich cash feeder. And the 4-million- Lebanese-question is: are they truly rehabilitated?

A Letter to the Son

2006-02-26T17:04:00.000+02:00

A year after and the road is still blocked

The green "Normandy"

Dear Saad,

Your father did not die because he was a Sunni, a billionaire and a friend to the powerful of this world. Your father died because he was a true Lebanese.

Your father was a machine of a man whose life was filled with good deeds and great achievements but also with controversial economic and business decisions.
He was a doer and a positive force in Lebanon's politics and compared to the present leaders, he was great.

Lebanon was like the "Normandy" mountain of rubbish when your father became Prime Minister. Today the greenest grass in Beirut is to be found there and it will soon become a public garden.

You could never be your father, because he was born poor while you were brought up in one of the richest families in the world.

I hope that you do not think that because the Presidents of France and the US are receiving you that you are a leader. Do not forget that they are receiving you because you are your father's son.

Your father has become an icon. You have been chosen to represent this legend. You have a lot of good will both locally and internationally, do not waste it.

Your father had said, according to an interview published for the first time a few weeks ago in Al Hayat newspaper, that spent US$150 million per year. $30 million of which were for personal use and the rest went to "help people" or, as I have understood, went to boost his political influence.

I do not think that you can spend these sums or even a fraction of them, because of several factors, the most important one being that your father knew that he could always win back the millions.

Your father also knew how to win people by a simple gesture, a few simple words or a large smile. His charisma was natural. Your father commanded respect because he achieved more than many in Lebanon. This respect has flowed onto you. And to keep it you will have to find your own way.

Your father was a good man, a giving man who sometimes, due to political or financial circumstances, used dirty tricks to get to his goals. He was a peaceful man who personally never hurt anyone physically or financially, but some people profited greatly from his friendship and trust at the expense of transparency and clean government.

Your father was not a warlord like Walid Jumblat, Nabih Berri, Michel Aoun, Hassan Nasrallah and Samir Geagea. He started off as a sectarian leader with national aspirations and ended as a true Lebanese leader. He died a Lebanese hero.

His death brought about the independence of Lebanon.

He surely "educated [more than 30,000 pupils], built [Solidere, roads, communications etc.] and liberated" but his policies left Lebanon with a debt of US$36 billion.
The Syrian hegemony and the whole Lebanese political and military establishment certainly caused this debt, but Rafic Hariri's credibility and impatience to rebuild Lebanon facilitated the operation.

However, he was the only one who really tried to salvage Lebanon's financial straits with the Paris donor conferences. He worked hard to boost Lebanon's economy again but the same sectarian and military establishment he helped enrich stood in his way.

He was killed because of Lebanon. Because of his dream.

Therefore I urge you Saad not to kill his dream of a great Lebanon. Follow your father's path of economic development.

Surround yourself with intelligent advisors such as the late Basel Fleihan and hold on to PM Fouad Seniora. Sycophants, vultures and yes-men are dangerous and can make you fail. Get rid of them.

Get people who think, work and achieve. Not people who talk hate, are lazy and make you spend useless sums of money.

Be noble, charitable and polite because you were raised by a Lebanese martyr and impose these virtues on all the Members of Parliament, journalists, allies and friends who claim to be on your side.

Do not let your instincts for revenge and glory guide you. Study your father's achievements, understand him but do not copy him and try to accomplish his vision of Lebanon your own way.

Remember that when your father took over there were more than 300,000 victims in Lebanon. Revenge was out of the question, and his message was all about unity and wealth creation.

Lebanon has a chance to begin anew. 4 million Lebanese cannot dwell one more day on the past. Lead the way and start by a symbolic gesture: open the road where your father was killed. Let the traffic flow. Let Lebanon rise.

Dusty and Foggy Beirut

2006-02-26T10:41:00.000+02:00

A foggy morning follows a dusty night

A thick cloud of dust engulfed Beirut last night and this morning it is fog's turn. Planes, however, are still landing at the airport.
Amidst the sandy mist yesterday, families, young people and tourists filled the streets, sidewalks and cafes of downtown Beirut.
The heart of Beirut is beating again. The will to live and enjoy life is stronger than the destructive instincts of our leaders or some of our TV stations.

Indeed, Samir Zaiter, a self-appointed clairvoyant, was on NTV last night predicting gloomy days of civil strife after attempts on the lives of Jumblat and Berri. And when the pretty NTV host asked the Norman Bates looking Nostradamus from Baalbek to end the program on a good note, Zaiter said that "God willing the Lebanese will avert war, but it will happen anyway".

Aoun, Taxi of the Republic

2006-02-26T00:20:00.000+02:00

I can imagine Michel Aoun as a butcher in a shop somewhere in Mount Lebanon, a restaurant owner in Baabdad or better yet a taxi driver, but I cannot imagine him President of the Republic.

Yet again today he talked about "burning Solidere". Is he that egocentric and irresponsible or is his diabetes affecting his thoughts? Didn't his intelligent advisors tell him that Lebanon lives on tourism and services or did he ever hear Charles De Gaulle say that he will burn Paris during the 1968 riots?

Aoun is no De Gaulle. Aoun is the less intelligent Lebanese version of Jean Marie Le Pen, a populist appealing to the basest instincts of his constituents.

Aoun has no shame and nothing can stop him from getting to the Presidency. He is uncontrollable and dangerously narcissistic.

He is no better than Geagea, Jumblat, Nasrallah and all the semi-gods that our Lebanese tribes cherish.

We had enough of them and their visions of sacrifice and death, their daily lectures, their ugly faces and their furious eyes.

We want simple politicians, with simple programs that will improve our quality of life. We want to live, work, laugh and do what normal people do in normal countries.

We want people like Aoun to beep and tell us: "taxeee?"

The not-so-clean United Arab Emirates?

2006-02-25T12:54:00.000+02:00

In light of the controversy surrounding the purchase of Dubai Ports World of US ports operations, part of its £3.9 billion P&O acquisition, The Village Voice published the following stories that tie the UAE to the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden:

Don't jump to conclusions, but there are ties between the UAE, bin Laden, and the Taliban

by James Ridgeway
February 22nd, 2006 9:42 AM

WASHINGTON, D.C.—No matter what Bush and his supporters say, there is indisputable evidence of tight connections between the United Arab Emirates and leadership of both the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The country is the center of financial activity in the Persian Gulf, and has next to no laws controlling money laundering.Two of the hijackers came from the UAE and hijacker money was laundered through the UAE. The details are spelled out in documents in the government's case against Moussaoui.

The ties with bin Laden and the Taliban reach far back into the '90s. Prominent Persian Gulf officials, including members of the UAE royal family, and businessmen would fly to Kandahar on UAE and private jets for hunting expeditions, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2001. In addition to ranking UAE ministers, these parties included Saudi big wigs like Prince Turki, the former Saudi intelligence minister who now is ambassador to the U.S.

General Wayne Downing, Bush's former national director for combating terrorism, was quoted on MSNBC in September, 2003 saying, "They would go out and see Osama, spend some time with him, talk with him, you know, live out in the tents, eat the simple food, engage in falconing, some other pursuits, ride horses. One noted visitor is Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktum, United Arab Emirates Defense Minister and Crown Prince for the emirate of Dubai.''

Bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar joined the hunting parties, and there are suspicions Al Qaeda and Taliban personnel are smuggled out on returning flights.

Here is one report, sourced to the 9-11 Commission, appearing in Paul Thompson's 9-11 timeline:

"February 1999: Bin Laden Missile Strike Called Off for Fear of Hitting Persian Gulf Royalty. Intelligence reports foresee the presence of bin Laden at a desert hunting camp in Afghanistan for about a week. Information on his presence appears reliable, so preparations are made to target his location with cruise missiles. However, intelligence also puts an official aircraft of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and members of the royal family from that country in the same location. Bin Laden is hunting with the Emirati royals, as he did with leaders from the UAE and Saudi Arabia on other occasions (see 1995-2001). Policy makers are concerned that a strike might kill a prince or other senior officials, so the strike never happens. A top UAE official at the time denies that high-level officials are there, but evidence subsequently confirms their presence. (9-11 Commission Report, 3/24/04 (B))"

It remains a key center of operations for Victor Bout, the notorious arms dealer, with ties to Taliban and Al Qaeda. There were also ties to the infamous BCCI.

As the Financial Times put it, in the UAE, "Western fraud investigators may find a link here or a connection there, with a person suspected of breaking western laws. But in Dubai, and its neighbor Sharjah, trails tend to vanish like wind-blown tracks in desert sands . . . Secrecy keeps everyone guessing—and speculating . . . 'Medieval feudalism' is how one senior western banker described Dubai's style of government, 'with a veneer of 21st century regulations.' "

A Russian arms merchant funnels money, guns, and dope through the United Arab Emirates

by James Ridgeway
February 23rd, 2006 11:09 AM
by James Ridgeway

WASHINGTON, D.C.—To hear the administration and its supporters talk, you'd think the workers in New York ports are carefully vetted by the Waterfront Commission, the ports themselves protected by the ever watchful Coast Guard, and routinely surveilled by U.S. Customs.

In truth,one administration after another has slashed the operational capability of the Coast Guard. Reagan even contemplated its privatization by a major defense firm. As for the Customs Service, it inspects as little as 5 percent of the cargo going through the New York ports.

This is a dream setup for any arms or dope dealer, and that's exactly what the United Arab Emirates is all about.The ties between its top officials and royal family with the Taliban and Al Qaeda go back at least a decade.

The UAE is not only the center of financial dealings in the Persian Gulf, it is switching central for dope and arms dealing. The dope comes out of Afghanistan into the UAE where tax monies are collected and used to buy arms, which were sent back in for the Taliban. Some of this money is thought to have helped finance the 9-11 attacks. A money trail is set forth in the government's filings in the Moussaoui case.

Long at the center of this operation is the mysterious Russian arms dealer, Victor Bout. The U.N. has accused Bout of providing arms to brutal regimes in Sierra Leone,Angola and to Charles Taylor in Liberia. The Center for Public Integrity, a Washington, D.C. research organization that operates a network of foreign correspondents, published a report on Bout in January 2002, citing Belgian intelligence documents from before the 9-11 attacks it had obtained. These documents reportedly show Bout earned $50 million in profits from selling weapons to the Taliban after they came to power in the late 1990s. The Center states, "Another European intelligence source independently verified the sales, and intelligence documents from an African country in which Bout operates—obtained by the Center—claim that Bout ran guns for the Taliban 'on behalf of the Pakistan government.' " Peter Hain, the British Foreign Office Minister for Europe who has led the international effort to expose criminal networks behind the conflict diamonds and small arms trade in Africa, told the Center's reporters, it was clear that Bout's supply of weapons to the Taliban "and to its ally, Osama bin Laden" posed a real danger.

Der Spiegel, the German magazine, said in early January 2002 that Vadim Rabinovich, an Israeli citizen of Ukrainian origin, along with the former director of the Ukrainian secret service and his son sold a consignment of 150 to 200 T-55 and T-62 tanks to the Taliban. Spiegel said the deal was conducted through the Pakistani secret service and uncovered by the Russian foreign intelligence service, SVR, in Kabul, the Afghan capital. A Western intelligence source told the Public Integrity Center that Rabinovich's weapons had been airlifted by one of Bout's airfreight companies from his base in the UAE.

Rabinovich denied all this, and Bout said "For the record, I am not, and never have been, associated with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or any of their officials, officers, or related organizations," Bout said, according to a copy of the statement released in the United States by one of his associates. "I am not, nor are any of my organizations, associated with arms traffickers and/or trafficking or the sale of arms of kind [sic] anywhere in the world. I am not, nor is any member of my family, associated with any military or intelligence organizations of any country."

No one is suggesting Bout has any great love for the radical Muslim fundamentalists of Taliban ilk. He sold guns to the Russians fighting the CIA-backed Afghan mujahideen in their war with the Soviet Union and to the warlords opposing the Taliban. His planes are registered to various companies all operating out of the United Arab Emirates.

In fact, the United Arab Emirates have been viewed as hub for trade going and coming to Afghanistan, with drugs coming from Afghanistan on their way to the West, and weapons from Bout, going back. While transportation was via Bout's different air cargo interests, it also involved the Afghan state airlines, called Ariana Airlines. The airline was controlled by Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda agents masquerading as Ariana employees flew out of Afghanistan, through Sharjah, one of the emirates, and on to points west.

During the late 1990s Bout's center of operations was Ostend, Belgium, but when he came under pressure there, he left Belgium. The UAE office grew in importance.

Bout used various air cargo outfits. One of them was called Flying Dolphin, which in the early 2000s was owned by Sheikh Adbullah bin Zayed bin Saqr al Nayhan, a former UAE ambassador to the United States and member of the ruling family in Abu Dhabi. He was described by the United Nations as a "close business associate of Bout." According to the December 20, 2000, U.N. report, Zayed's company is registered in Liberia, but its operations office is in Dubai.

Lahoud Swims in a Sea of Insults

2006-02-24T17:33:00.000+02:00

MPs Atef Majdalani and Serge Torsarkissian at the protest tonight

"Swim Away Lahoud," is the most polite slogan that has been chanted and written in Martyr's square in the last two days.

Protesters are hurling insults at the President, whose favourite sport is swimming, live on Future TV and on LBC. And because such attacks are illegal, the Lebanese judiciary has issued arrest warrants against the protestors.

A number of MPs signed a petition claiming that they had voted for Lahoud's presidential extension in 2004 under Syrian threats and a popular petition demanding the resignation of the President is being signed in Martyr's square this evening.

MP Serge Torsarkissian, from the Hariri parliamentary bloc, said today that "Lahoud made us [the Lebanese people] hate swimming and politics". Last night a protestor said that if Lahoud should quit the presidency and start a swimming school, he would definitely not join it. Others chanted: "we want revenge from Lahoud and Bashar".

President Emile Lahoud is the target of a political and media campaign aiming to oust him. Up to this moment, Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian parties are the only ones clearly defending Lahoud.
Indeed, Syria and its allies consider Lahoud as a line of defence against the implementation of UN resolution 1559 which calls for the dismantling of armed militias in clear reference to Hezbollah and other Palestinian groups.

In the next couple of weeks, Walid Jumblat, Saad Hariri, Samir Geagea and their allies hope either to force Lahoud to resign or for Parliament to declare the 2004 constitutional extension to the Presidency illegal. But in order for such a bill to pass, two thirds of Parliament must vote for it.
The March 14 coalition are betting on Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Parliament and a Hezbollah ally, to dissent from his coalition and call on his MPs to vote in favour of this resolution.

The Maronite Patriarch does not object to Lahoud's removal as long as it does not lead to violent street protests, while General Michel Aoun, who is calling for a national dialogue on the Presidency, will only accept Lahoud's ouster if he is the next President.

So far, however, Riyadh Salameh, the Governor of the Central Bank, is the most likely candidate to the post in case Lahoud leaves.

A Joke of a Country

2006-02-24T15:30:00.000+02:00

A few hours after landing in Beirut, I felt I was in a large hospital.

In Kuwait the constitutional crisis ended in a week, in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with all their in-fighting, the transfer of power was smooth and refined.

Back home the leaders we have elected are taking the country to the brink of civil strife and economic disaster.

The problem is that their followers are plenty and each “tribe” claims that it is doing its duty towards Lebanon.

15 years of war and nothing has changed. 15 years of war and the new generation of Lebanese is taking the cause of the same old secterian leaders to heart.

The irresponsible breed of politicians hijacked the new Lebanon that we dreamt of on March 14. The Lebanon that would compete economically with Dubai has become a fantasy. The Lebanon, free of Syrian troops, is faltering under the overweight ambitions of its new masters.

Two hospital jokes that are making the rounds in Lebanon illustrate in a humorous way our predicament:

- Michel Aoun and Samir Geagea enter an asylum. The psychiatrist in charge asks Geagea who he is.
Geagea replies: “Jesus of course”.
The puzzled director then asks Aoun the same question. Aoun says: “First let me start by saying that Geagea is a liar. I barely know him and he is definitely not my son.”

- Hassan Nasralllah goes to the nativity ward of a hospital to visit his new born child. He sees an area with 10 babies and asks the doctor whether his kid is amongst them and the doctor replies that those are Christian babies.
Sayyed Hassan sees another group of 20 babies and asks whether his new born is present. But the doctor says that the babies are Sunnis and he takes him to an area with 800 babies and he points towards baby Nasrallah.
The happy Sayyed runs to him, holds him and tells him: “Googoo, gaagaa, inguerra, inguerra.”
Suddenly all 800 babies shout in unison with risen fists: “Googoo, gaagaa, inguerra, inguerra.”

Welcome to planet Lebanon where the grass is greener, the pockets emptier and the minds have emigrated!

Bogus Threat!

2006-02-22T09:36:00.000+02:00

A fellow blogger claims that The Daily Star was "threatened by the Syrian Mukhabarat" .

The "From Beirut to the Beltway" blog says:

"According to the staff member, there is a disturbing reason why the Daily Star continues to publish Shaaban's pieces; one that might not strike you as surprising.

In early March [2005], after reviewing the Shaaban piece I mentioned above, the paper's editorial team decided against publishing it. A couple of weeks later, their managing editor received an early morning phone call at his home from a man who identified himself as a "member of the Syrian Mukhabarat" (Syrian intelligence).

The Syrian agent demanded to know why the Daily Star had not published the article.

According to my source, the managing editor asked the man how he had gotten his phone number.

"We have all the phone numbers and addresses of every journalist in Beirut," was his chilling response.

The Daily Star's management took the safe road and published the piece...".

What "From Beirut to the Beltway" forgot to mention is that the Daily Star sells copies in Syria on a daily basis and that as a newspaper it has to publish the opinions of all sides. Therefore I think that the claim is to say the least exaggerated if not totally bogus.

The Daily Star publishes Israeli writers and therefore Butheina Shaaban is as intitled to publish her opinion as any other columnist.

Furthermore, Shaaban's columns are also published in Asharq Al Awsat and many other Arab newspapers that have criticized Syria, and I do not think that "the Mukhabarat" threatened them. But most importantly late PM Rafic Hariri's Mustaqbal newspaper was publishing Shaaban's articles right up to September 2005.

Government officials and press attaches often call newspapers to publish the opinions of their officials and most of the times the newspapers oblige.

Finally, if the Syrians wanted to hurt the Daily Star they would have forbidden it from selling in Syria. And unlike An Nahar, which is forbidden from entering Syrian territory, the Daily Star is available on the same day.

Fear and Trembling

2006-02-22T08:55:00.000+02:00

I believe in the total separation of religion and state and I believe first and foremost in humanity. Being a believer, an unbeliever or an agnostic is something very personal that should not regulate our reltionship with others or our respect of their religious convictions.

For a great many Lebanese who identify themselves as Christians in Lebanon it is either let us emigrate or let us “confederate”. For the other Lebanese who identify themselves as Shiites and Sunnis it is a contest of who is the largest sect and who will take power.

Leaders like Samir Geagea, Michel Aoun, Hassan Nasrallah, Walid Jumblat and Saad Hariri embody the desperation of the majority of our secterian population.

As an example, secterian Christians once loved Geagea for his idea of a Lebanese confederation but now they are not sure anymore because of his alliance with “the Sunnis and the Druze” and for his soft talk about a united Lebanon.

Those who identify themselves as Christians today love Aoun today for his aggressive ways. They feel that he is their will to power. He is saving them from 15 years of feeble and limited participation. He is their way to safety – to a confederation where they will not fear and they will not tremble.

Not that I feel sorry for Samir Geagea, after all he is a guilty murderer and a convict that will slowly but surely regress into his previous monstrous self and become a "Christian hero" once again.
His little bold head and his thin moustache have been popping up on LBC and Future for the last several weeks.
A criminal giving us moral lessons and political theories, Geagea sits comfortably in his heated Chalet in one of the most beautiful parts of our country, the Cedars, and wants to impose a new order on Lebanon.

As for Aoun, his talk of being non-sectarian is a sham. He wants to impose himself as "the leader of the Maronites" and if all else fails than confederation is not a bad idea, as one of his MPs said.

Geagea and Aoun are the products of a deep conviction among the secterian Christians that they have a different culture from their Muslim brothers, when in fact Lebanese moderates accidentally born into any sect are as close culturally as Muslim fanatics and racist secterian Christians are.

Political leaders use religious identity to boost their popularity and it works every time because the Lebanese love it.
Today every sectarian and religious identity is embodied in a leader but unfortunately they are all highly strung and they all serve a lofty purpose that contradicts the interest of 4 million Lebanese.

Moderates, intelligent and cultured politicians like Nassib Lahoud, Selim El Hoss, Hussein Al Husseini and Habib Sadek are not accepted. The people want Aoun and Geagea, Nasrallah and Berri, Saad Hariri and Jumblat and their lackeys. It is the same situation in every sect where the lowest common denominator is the prime motivator: fear of the other.

The Lebanese population has a long process of social and political re-education and if it does not start soon, Lebanon will be torn apart once again until the next foreign power takes us over and that will only prove that we are the prisoners of our history.

Pop Goes AUB

2006-02-22T06:02:00.000+02:00

At the age of 140, AUB embraces the modern.

With the mushrooming of American universities and colleges in the region, AUB is cleverly projecting its true value through the global personalities it chose to bestow honorary doctorates on, and its liberalism and modernism through a Zaha Hadid building and a Coca Cola Chair.

Indeed, amidst the traditional buildings of the American University of Beirut will rise a structure that is bold and post modern.
Zaha Hadid, the world famous Iraqi architect and once an AUB student, won the competition to design the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs.

A day earlier the AUB announced that the Coca Cola foundation donated US$2 million to "strengthen the school's academic programs and promote the study of the field of marketing through teaching, research, and service".

The new Hadid designed building and the establishment of the Coca-Cola Chair in Markeing give the AUB an Andy Warhol pop aura.

Although cynics might say that the money would be better spent on human capital rather than on high maintenance buildings, AUB will remain a leader and a beacon of free-thinking and high quality education, unrivalled not only in Lebanon but also in the Middle East.

The Art of War

2006-02-22T04:57:00.000+02:00

Our 15 year civil war is art.

It has been exposed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for quite some time and through March 11 it can be admired and bought at The Kitchen gallery on West 19th Street in New York.

Walid Raad and his Atlas Group capture the madness and absurdity of the Lebanese conflict. Through his art, Raad re-examines his (and our) fears and hopes at a dangerous and crazy time in our history.
He mocks them and belittles them in an obvious effort to control them and to brake free.

Raad transforms car bombs into art. His focus is on the engines that are the only intact remnants of the detonated car bombs, like souls that are religiously and poetically the only remnants of the dead.
He does not show us the victims, just the cars and their engines. It is both cold and satirical, devoid of humanity like our war, like our leaders who ordered the dreadful acts.

The Village Voice had this to say about his art:

"He lets us know that there were 3,641 car bombs detonated in Beirut between 1975 and 1991. In seven collages titled Notebook Volume 38: Already Been in a Lake of Fire, an invented character named Dr. Fadl Fakhouri presents pictures of cars and Arabic writing. One image reads, "Silver Volvo; August 20, 1985; 56 killed; 120 injured; 100 kg of TNT; 24 cars burned; 11 buildings burned." Raad/Fakhouri fetishizes the facts of violence in Beirut the way Henry Darger recorded the weather in Chicago. Elsewhere, he gives us the serial numbers of engines that were blown from car bombs, how far each motor flew, and where it landed.

In Hostage: The Bachar Tapes, Raad, 38, recounts what he calls the "captivity narrative" of five American hostages held in Lebanon in the 1980s, adding a fictitious Arab who describes nocturnal homoerotic encounters.

In Miraculous Beginnings we see a hallucinogenic 52-second film made by Dr. Fakhouri in which he exposed a frame every time he thought the war had come to an end. It's an abstract image of lost hopes and wishful thinking.

In I Only Wish That I Could Weep we see furtive views of sunsets filmed by a Lebanese army intelligence officer posted to monitor a boardwalk in Beirut."

Walid Raad's work is also exhibited at the Sfeir-Semler gallery in Beirut.

Notes From Kuwait 2

2006-02-21T19:28:00.000+02:00

Kuwait in transition - between the old and the new (Beirut Notes)

- The Kuwaitis I met in the past couple of days love Lebanon and are shocked by what our politicians are doing to "their second home". They do not understand the vulgar and dangerous bickering of our leaders. A Kuwaiti journalist told me that a Lebanon without Syria is almost like Iraq without Saddam Hussein: Chaotic.

- A Russian diplomat in Kuwait told me today that Lebanon needs the intervention of an outside power if it wants security and stability. He added that it is his point of view and not that of his government.
He also said that Lebanon is pro-American today.

- A few days ago there was a ceremony at the Lebanese Embassy here in memory of murdered PM Rafic Hariri. Supporters of Walid Jumblat were the loudest, shouting: "Abou Taymoor, Abou Taymoor."
On the occasion, Ghazi Youssef represented Saad Hariri. An official present said that Youssef told him that he was preparing an optional civil marriage bill.
When such a bill was put forward in 1998, it drew fire from both Muslim and Christian religious leaders.
The Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Kabbani said back then that the decision hurts the essence of religion and the Shariaa.

Notes From Kuwait

2006-02-21T00:48:00.000+02:00

- "You are a Lebanese leader and not a Shiite Leader," Jassem Al Kharafi, the speaker of the Kuwaiti Parliament told his Lebanese counterpart, Nabih Berri, during his last trip to Kuwait, according to a local editor.
Nasser Al Kharafi, Jassem's brother, and the head of the Kharafi Group conglomerate reportedly bought 50 percent of NBN satellite TV, the channel founded by Berri.

- Kuwaiti Alshayah group, the largest franchise operator in the Middle East, is bringing the UK's leading health and beauty retailer, Boots, to the region, the H&M clothing stores and Footlocker, adding to other leading retail brands, such as Mothercare and Starbucks.
Alshayah employs over 8,500 people in the region. The company makes profits in all markets, except in Lebanon, where it has been operating for more than 10 years.

- Kuwaitis are heading to Lebanon in droves during the long-weekend of the Kuwait National Day. All Airlines heading to Beirut are fully booked for the next six days.

- The new Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah replaced the ailing Sheikh Saad Al Abdallah, after the latter was deposed by Parliament following the death of Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed, the former long reigning Emir.
The change occurred street without any insults, threats or street demonstrations. It was done through dialogue amongst the ruling family and leading political figures.
Maybe there is a lesson there for those who seek to depose lame duck President Emile Lahoud.

Get Him Some Prozac Please!

2006-02-20T19:57:00.000+02:00

General Michel Aoun is desperately in need of Prozac.

I couldn't believe my ears when the General warned today that four young men with some petroleum fuel could burn Solidere in case the March 14 coalition tries to topple President Emile Lahoud through street protests.

I knew he had a Napoleon complex but not an Emperor Nero one.

In my earlier posts I had criticized Walid Jumblat, Samir Geagea and Hassan Nasrallah for their violent language and Saad Hariri for his inexperience but Aoun exceeded my worst expectations today.

I had thought that the General had calmed down after his understanding with Hezbollah and with the Lebanese Forces on the Baabda elections. But I was wrong. The man is as unfit to lead Lebanon as any current sectarian leader.

Does he know the impact of his words? Does he know that the well being of four million Lebanese is more important than his political career? Does he know that his anger can make the Lebanese economy lose tens of millions of US dollars by scaring investors and tourists? Does he know that tonight parents and children in Lebanon will sleep in fear of tomorrow?

Why is he adding fuel to the fire? Why isn't he trying to build concensus? Why aren't the leaders that we elected to serve our interests concerned about our welfare?

So many questions and so many fools without an answer. On days like these I often wonder whether we deserve our independence and our freedom and whether we weren't better off under Syrian hegemony.

UAE Aims For Space While Lebanon is Lost in Space

2006-02-18T07:50:00.000+02:00

Space Adventures - Ras El Khaimah

While the UAE has joined the space tourism race, Lebanon is lost in space and our educated and ambitious population is led by a bunch of aliens.

Here is what Gulf Daily News wrote today: "Space Adventures, the only company to have sent tourists into space, has announced plans to develop a commercial spaceport in the UAE emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

From the Ras Al Khaimah spaceport, the firm will operate suborbital flights, a newspaper report. The project will cost $265 million, officials said.

The Russian-built suborbital vehicle called Explorer will have the capacity to transport up to five people to an altitude of nearly 100km in space, but the project's schedule is yet to be announced.

The UAE spaceport, to be located less than an hour's drive from Dubai, already has commitments for $30m. "

Come to think of it Lebanon can also join the space tourism race.
Indeed we have our own version of Star Wars. Princess Leia is definitely not Neyla Moawad but Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah looks more like Darth Vader than Obi One Kenobi, and although Walid Jumblat is a taller and more murderous version of Master Yoda, he doesn't have his wisdom.
I am sure that the Ministry of Tourism can sell tickets to our local reality based science fiction show. After all we invested over $35 billion in it.

The Sheikh, the Sayyed, the Doctor, the General and the Beyk

2006-02-17T22:56:00.000+02:00

Every Lebanese wants peace and prosperity. No Lebanese wants war. Every Lebanese wants Lebanon First, except our politicians who all say Lebanon First but what they really mean is “Me First”.

The Sheikh, the Sayyed, the Doctor, the General and the Beyk are inherently disturbed personalities that have absolutely no regards for any of us poor folk.

They are feudal lords and their word is heaven sent. They are freedom, independence, honesty, holiness and truth incarnated.

What about the end of the month salaries of Tarek, Hussein, Tony and Adnan? What about the school fees, the health and transport costs of more than four million Lebanese? What about the fear of another civil war that is in the heart of millions of Lebanese parents and children? What about the thousands of young men and women who are escaping unemployment and misery every month?

Do you think the Sheikh, the Sayyed, the Doctor, the General and the Beyk care? No there are more important things like the truth, Israel, Syria, the presidency and pure megalomania.

What I understand when I hear Lebanon First is an increase in productivity, employment opportunities, better education, affordable healthcare, equal rights, laws that are implemented and no corruption.

Lebanon First is a clean environment, public gardens, a public transport network, better roads, 24 hour electricity, theatres and museums.

Lebanon First is a society that cares for the downtrodden, for the refugees and for the less fortunate. A society that is not sectarian and racist.

Lebanon First is a policeman that respects himself and is respected and a government that serves the public.

Lebanon First is not against anyone but for everyone living in Lebanon.

Lebanon First cannot be founded by unrepentant warlords, spoilt children, fundamentalist clerics, trigger happy generals or any of their cronies.

We acted on instinct and we chose the Sheikh, the Sayyed, the Doctor, the General and the Beyk - egos with titles - as our leaders because we lost our democratic ways back in 1975. Our wounds chose them, our instincts elected them and our fears wants us to believe them.

We forgot that they do not know how to build nations. We forgot how they destroyed, murdered and stole. We forgot how good they are at making us fear, making us hate, making us poor and making us leave the country we love.

For the last 30 years we blamed the Palestinians, the Israelis, the Syrians, the US, Europe and every other Arab for our problems, when the real problem is deeply entranched in our Lebanese souls.

The Beyk, the General, the Doctor, the Sayyed and the Sheikh today are in every one of us Lebanese. We should learn how to free ourselves from them, learn how to trust one another and learn how to vote for people who can make our lives better and not for icons who make us miserable.

We should replace them with hope and inspiration. We should replace them with someone like us who actually likes us.

Nasrallah The Fireman

2006-02-16T17:05:00.001+02:00

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stubbed out the sparks of a civil war kindled during the February 14 demonstration by ex-warlords and current pyromaniacs Walid Jumblat and Samir Geagea.
In a very calm and collected manner, Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, replied today to some of Tuesday's fiery speeches denigrating the resistance, emphasizing national unity and national dialogue.
He asked whether the insults hurled on the day of the commemoration of Rafic Hariri were a wise approach to build national unity or to prepare for the Beirut One donors conference or were rather a precursor to civil war.
In a direct reply to Jumblat, Nasrallah stressed the "holiness" of the resistance and he criticized Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces an ex-ally of Israel, who said to hundred of thousands of people on Tuesday: "the sea is in front of you and the enemy is behind you".
Nasrallah also said that once the government is strong enough to protect Lebanon from Israel's daily affront to its sovereignty then the resistance would seriously think about the use of its weapons.
And he repeatedly said that Hezbollah is not in an alliance with either Syria or Iran and that its only concern is the protection of Lebanon.
In another note the Beirut Stock Exchange lost more than 10 percent of its value as a direct result of the February 14 demonstration.

The Future of An Nahar

2006-02-15T16:39:00.000+02:00

An Nahar, the leading Lebanese newspaper, is at a crossroad and its future ownership structure will affect the Lebanese press, one of the most important industries in Lebanon.

The newspaper always had heavy financial commitments that Gebran Tueni, its ex-Chairman and General Manager, somehow managed to alleviate. But after his murder the equity he held in the company was parcelled out among his wife, daughters and father.
Gebran’s shares were divided mainly between his wife Siham and her daughters and Neyla and Michelle, his daughters from a previous marriage.
He also held an important portfolio of An Nahar shares that were bought with the promise of later payment from ex-PM Rafic Hariri. However, after he was assassinated, the Hariri family got back their shares in An Nahar.
Other owners include Prince Waleed Bin Talal (10 percent) and the Greek Orthodox Diocese, and Issam Fares (5 percent).

The current Chairman of An Nahar and Gebran's father, Ghassan Tueni, 80, has chosen Neyla to be a member of the board of An Nahar. Neyla also got the backing of the Hariri family.

Being close to the Tueni family, Antoine Choueiri has proposed to create a holding company for the family’s shares thus keeping the Lebanese newspaper of record safe from possible takeovers. Antoine Choueiri is the multi-millionaire chairman of the Choueiri group, the largest advertising representative in the Arab world. His company Press Media sells advertising space in An Nahar.

Under the leadership of three generations of Tuenis, An Nahar has become a Lebanese institution with great influence on our country’s affairs. Therefore its ownership is a question of national interest.

PM Displeased by Speeches

2006-02-14T20:39:00.000+02:00

I took these pictures at the demonstration today

Coming back from Saudi Arabia, PM Fouad Seniora is reportedly displeased by the overzealous language used by some politicians at today's vast demonstration, (1 million according to Naharnet and 500,000 according to Reuters), commermorating murdered PM Rafic Hariri.
Indeed Saudi Arabian officials have been pushing for moderation, unity and good neighbourly relations with Syria, while Jumblat and Sabaa used a civil-war like speech.

[I guess PM Seniora is one of the few politicians in Lebanon that is responsible, mature and has the interest of our country at heart.
The free, independent and prosperous Lebanon that I am dreaming of is free from the "lords of war", (Aoun, Geagea, Jumblat, Nasrallah, etc.), that are haunting and taunting us.
The Lebanese, who gathered today in great numbers for a noble cause, need more politicians like Seniora, Nassib Lahoud and Hussein Al Husseini.]

Ashamed

2006-02-14T16:07:00.000+02:00

I am ashamed to have believed in the March 14 movement. I am ashamed at the insults hurled by Walid Jumblat, MP Bassem El Sabaa and others.
The language that some politicians used today to remember murdered PM Rafic Hariri was violent, vulgar and obnoxious.
None of them had a vision for Lebanon. None of them talked about rebuilding Lebanon's economy and political system.
It was shocking and I was there to witness it.

The politicians addressing the vast crowd of Lebanese who were there today for Hariri shouted messages of hate and division. None of them gave us hope.

None of them realized that emigration from Lebanon is principally for economic reasons. None of them realized that their obsession with the Syrian regime is as ridiculous as Hezbollah's obsession with Israel. None of them realized that coarse words and fear do not develop a country. None of them realized that their speeches could destroy my country.

And all of them proved that they are petty and they are not worthy.

They are not worthy to rule us, the Lebanese. They are not worthy of our ambitions. They are not worthy of our hopes.

Hate and fear is what they fed us today. I feel disgusted. I feel ashamed.

Tourists Are Back

2006-02-12T08:20:00.000+02:00

I took these pictures from the mountains surrounding the "cabane" slopes in Faraya yesterday

Tourists are back. The Phoenicia and Vendome hotels in Beirut have witnessed 100 percent occupancy rates for weeks. The riots in Acharafieh on "Black Sunday" have not changed this fact.
Yesterday, Gulf Arabs, Iraqis, Jordanians and Europeans were all over Faraya's slopes and hotels. Rooms at the Mzaar Intercontinental and at the Chez Michel Hotel were full.

If only Lebanese politicians could stop their dangerous bickering and concentrate on development and wealth creation in their areas, then Lebanon would be better off economically.

After being absent for a year, a Bahraini friend of mine who has just bought an apartment in Greater Beirut told me a couple of days ago that there is no country like Lebanon in the region. And Dubai could never offer what Beirut offers.

Good, Bad and Really Ugly News

2006-02-10T17:57:00.000+02:00

- The government intends to privatize both the country’s mobile operators, (MTC Touch and Alfa), and its fixed line operator, (Ogero which will become Liban Telecom), before June 2006, according to the Lebanese Minister of the Economy, Sami Haddad.

- The Beirut Stock Exchange recovered today some its value after a 10 percent fall caused by the Achrafieh riots and profit tacking.

- Solidere shares, which were being traded at around $26 fell to $22.39 on Wednesday, gained 3.7 percent today and closed at $23.3.

- When EFG Hermes offered to sell $90 million worth of Solidere shares at $22 (the average price of the share over a month), it got over $300 million worth of subscriptions. Over 90 percent of the sale went to Gulf investors.

- Banque Du Liban et D’Outre Mer (BLOM) completed the sale of 3 million Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) at $92, 55 percent of which went to Gulf investors and 45 percent were bought by US based funds.

- The Ministry of Transportation is serious about the rehabilitation of the Riyak and Kleiat airports. A preliminary study will be ready in a couple of weeks.

- Mr. Jihad Azour, The Minister of Finance, launched today the "Bader" program for young Lebanese entrepreneurs with the backing of a group of succesful business people like Michel Abché (BHV stores), Marwan Kheireddine (Al Mawarid Bank and Virgin Megastores), Said Daher (Zara and Mango) and Robert Fadel (ABC stores). They intend to promote entrepreneurship at universities around the country, advise young entrepreneurs and set up a venture capital fund.

- The reforms planned for Electricité du Liban will take years to implement.

- The value added tax (VAT) that is currently at 10 percent will be increased to 12 percent very soon.

- The capital gains tax will be increased from the current 5 percent to 7 percent.

- In a couple of days the Interior Ministry intends to reveal the names and pictures of the individuals involved in the Sunday riots in Achrafieh.

- Johnny Abdo, the Lebanese ex-spy chief and a Hariri family advisor, has told a prominent politician that the next assassination attempt will be against a politician cum journalist.

A Little Modesty

2006-02-10T15:53:00.000+02:00

Lebanon is in a mess of its own making. Overwhelmed by Lebanon’s new found freedom and independence, our political leaders are unable to come up with a united vision of Lebanon.
After 15 years of stability created by a Syro-Western understanding, Lebanon is once again paying the price of regional conflicts that cost us not so long ago 15 years of civil war and 300,000 victims.

The murder of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri was the catalyst that brought the end of Syrian military and political hegemony. However, Lebanon is being pulled apart today by Western regional interests on the one hand and by the Syrian and Iranian bloc on the other, and neutrality is not an option.

The reasons preventing Lebanon from joining the Western alliance are many.

First and foremost is the Hezbollah wall of defiance. Hezbollah’s “raison d’être” is its struggle against Israel and Western “imperialism”. With the financial help of Iran and the political support of Syria, Hezbollah forced the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, became the unrivalled representative of the Shiite community and asserted its influence on regional anti-Western and anti-Zionist movements.
During the 15 years of pax Syriana, Hezbollah was not involved in any Lebanese government and its sole focus was its struggle. The Syrian hegemony protected it from local Lebanese criticism and Iran’s money made sure that the education, health and social needs of its constituency were taken care of.

When Syria left Lebanon, Hezbollah had to protect its achievements and its ideology and got involved in local politics. Backing Hezbollah’s “no” to the Western camp are its weapon, Syria’s local allies, its vast and committed electorate and the inherent distrust and dislike that many Lebanese hold against the US and its pro-Zionist policies.

Although well intentioned, Saad El Hariri, Walid Jumblat and Samir Geagea have thought that they can pull Lebanon out of Hezbollah’s struggle and alliances and embed it in a neutral position first by engaging the Party of God and then by confronting it.

Both approaches were too chaotic, mediatized and badly planned and therefore have failed miserably.
Furthermore, the Jumblat and Hariri camps, forgetting that their overblown influence during the last 15 years stemmed first from their alliance with the Syrians and then from their alliance with the West, were arrogant enough to appoint themselves the de-facto leaders of the March 14 alliance.

Hariri and Jumblat’s over confidence succeeded in alienating General Michel Aoun and his party which got 70 percent of the Christian vote in last fall’s elections. Their failure to tackle the Hezbollah challenge put civil peace at risk, compelling Aoun, according to his supporters, to engage Hezbollah to protect his electorate from potential dangers.

Sponsored by Hariri’s allies, the Achrafieh demonstration protesting the cartoons defaming the Prophet Mohammed was another Hariri miscalculation. And instead of promoting his credentials as a Sunni leader defending the Prophet, the Sunday riots, dealt the blow of death to the spirit of March 14. Christian public opinion lost its trust in Hariri and in the government that represents him. And his efforts to make amends have so far been futile.

Responsible leadership and a clear vision for Lebanon have been absent from the Hariri and Jumblat governing camp. Indeed their political behaviour seems to rest on their bet that the Syrian regime, which they accuse of killing Rafic Hariri, will soon falter.

Although Jumblat tried to compromise with the Assad regime via Hezbollah and failed, the Hariri camp has refused any kind of concession, whether sponsored by Cairo or Riyadh. The Syrian regime has clearly backed Hariri’s assassination and the Hariri camp knows that. Therefore, “the truth” they are seeking is more of a vendetta that cannot be achieved because the US and Israel have no interest in destabilizing Syria.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s political stability and its economy are the only losers.

The way out is not simple but a little political modesty from the Hariri and Jumblat camp is essential and can go a long way.
And instead of promoting the US objection over the Aoun and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah dialogue, the Hariri camp and their allies should join them on a round table, after all it was neither the Free Patriotic Movement nor Hezbollah that killed Rafic Hariri. And they should do it on February 14.

Guess Who Will Not Dance the Salsa Next September?

2006-02-08T18:35:00.000+02:00

If George W. Bush does not go berserk on Iran before next September, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will show up 90 miles from US shores in Havana, Cuba.

Bacardi and Salsa being out of the question, I wonder if Ahmadinejad will enjoy a Cuban cigar or a day out on the beach.
And with all the beautiful Cuban women around, I wonder what Ahmadinejad would do? Will he look away, put a hood on his head or just lock himself up in his hotel suite.
Having banned "indecent" music from state-run TV and radio stations, Ahmadinejad will certainly be compelled to hear an immoral Cuban Son. Will he cover his ears?

He probably thinks that it is worth the sacrifice, and maybe just maybe he could convince Castro to turn the Communist dictatorship into the Islamic Republic of Cuba.

Ahmadinejad must have a mischievous streak in him to go to Cuba. Whether it is to irritate Bush, to extend Iranian influence to Latin America or to have a dream vacation, his visit will hopefully cool his spirits, unless Bush sends him an invitation to visit nearby Guantanamo.
Then Ahmadinejad will certainly have one of his devout visions reminding him of the Cuban missile crisis when the world was on the brink of a nuclear conflict.

Nayla Mouawad vs. Haifa Wehbe

2006-02-08T15:56:00.000+02:00

Asked to compare between the March 14 meeting that took place on Monday and the meeting between Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and FPM leader Michel Aoun, ex-MP Suleiman Franjieh said: "The first meeting lacks respect, while the second was of a different and higher level. Comparing the two meetings is like comparing [Lebanese pop singer] Haifa Wehbe to [Zghorta MP] Nayla Mouawad. (The Daily Star)

Let us see what Franjieh is talking about:

Ms. Haifa Wehbe and Mrs. Nayla Mouawad

In the same spirit as Suleiman Beyk, we can ask the following questions:

Who would you rather vote for?

Mr. Suleiman Franjieh or Ms. Lamita Franjieh

Who would you rather go to dinner with?

Geagea, Jumblat and Aoun or Nancy, Elissa and Nelly

Spot the comic:

Bashar Assad has the moustache of Hardy and the smile of Laurel.

Controversy Surrounds Civil War Museum

2006-02-08T01:51:00.000+02:00

According to a prominent member of Beirut's business community, Abdel Menem Ariss, the head of the Beirut City Council, proposed to convert a war torn building in Sodeco into a museum of rememberance for the Lebanese civil war.
The board agreed to the idea and an invitation to tender was placed.
After offers ranging from LL800 million ($530,000) to LL4 billion were brought forward, the Beirut Council board decided that it had budgetary priorities and that the project would have to be shelved.
Ariss took it to the ex-Minister of the Interior, Hassan El Sabaa, who was also in charge of town and city boards and got his approval for the highest tender of LL4 billion.
When some members of the Beirut board learned about the affair, they threatened to resign.

Never Again

2006-02-07T21:24:00.000+02:00

The following are stories of men, women and children, whom I had met between December 24, 1992, and January 17, 1993, in Lebanon, living the first post war years of the country.
After the recent troubles, especially the riots in Achrafieh on Sunday, I read it again and it reminded me of the horrors of our not-so-distant history. Forgive me if it is a little too long.

Kammal Dabbous, a 33 year old former Shiite militiaman, drives through Beirut's ravaged commercial center, which is the most obvious reminder of Lebanon's 15 year orgy of self destruction. This half square mile area called "Al Aswak" ("The Markets") saw the fiercest battles between rival Christian and Muslim militias.
Hundreds of burned out buildings still stand without windows or doors. Bombs of every caliber ripped open their facades. Bullets and anti tank rockets perforated hundred of thousands of dents in their concrete walls.
Dabbous, who as a 16 year old boy fought in this no man's land, smiles uneasily and says: "As a teenager, I was thrilled to carry a machine gun. Nobody told me then that it was wrong. Instead, the militias taught us how to fight. They told us that weapons are the decoration of men. We were encouraged to destroy."

But unfortunately, The Markets are not the only victims.

War broke out in Lebanon on April 13, 1975, after growing tensions between Muslims and Christians over the presence of Palestinian guerillas in Lebanon.
Lebanese Muslims and their Palestinian allies fought the Christian militias, dominated by the Phalangists. The Syrians, the Israelis, and the West intervened and got embroiled in the conflict.
Over the years, the Lebanese massacred and kidnapped one another. Christians even fought Christians, and Muslims fought Muslims.
The war ended on October 13, 1990, when Syrian tanks roared into Christian East Beirut, imposing an agreement signed between Muslim and Christian parliamentarians in the Saudi town of Taef. Although the war ended more than two years ago, its human sequels are still vivid.
The war killed 200,000 people and wounded 300,000 others. A hundred and six thousand people are handicapped as a direct result of the civil war, according to Caritas, the largest charity in Lebanon.
There are 17,500 missing persons, of whom 14,000 were kidnapped by Christian and Muslim militias. Odette Salem, the founder of Parents of the Kidnapped, believes that 1,500 Lebanese are still held hostage.
Three hundred thousand people were displaced during the war. Thirty percent of the displaced are Christians who fled their villages, after Christian and Druse militias fought each other in the mountains surrounding Beirut, according to a recent Ministry of Refugees report. The report adds that 25 percent of refugees are Shiites who escaped Israeli shelling and occupation of their villages in Southern Lebanon. The rest of the displaced are mainly Christians who escaped West Beirut and Muslims who escaped East Beirut.
Moreover, the Palestinians'war against Israel has not ended. There are still 300,000 Palestinian refugees in camps in Lebanon. They live in misery and their only goal is to return to their homeland.
The war crippled the once burgeoning Lebanese economy, plunging more than half the Lebanese into poverty. Water and electricity are still in very short supply.
On the social level, "Ghettos were created during the war," says Samir Khalaf, a Lebanese sociologist at Princeton University. "Close community and family relations were a cushion that protected the Lebanese." But he added that the same forces that enabled the Lebanese to survive are creating uneasiness in peace time.
An anarchical society developed in the war. The social contract failed. "Lebanon experienced the dismemberment of society," Khalaf says. "How will the Lebanese reassemble a society that experienced such an erosion of trust?"
Furthermore, the divisions in Lebanon have reinforced stereotypes. " Some Christians think that Muslims are black and dirty," says Anna Mansour, director at UNICEF. "Some Muslims say that Christians are infidels.
"The Lebanese are full of stereotypes caused by fear."
The Lebanese, however, faced the same traumas, and today they face the same hardships. "We [the Lebanese] were homogenized by fear and terror," says Khalaf.
As a result, 10 percent of the Lebanese experience post-traumatic stress disorders - PTSD - compared to 2 percent of U.S. citizens, according to Elie Karam, a psychologist at the Saint Georges Hospital in Beirut.
"A generation must pass before things go back to normal in Lebanon," Karam says. The generation of Lebanese on whom peace rests is the war generation the children who grew up in a divided and war torn Lebanon.

...

Marta Abou Mitri will dress in black for the rest of her life. Pictures of her sons, Tony and Charbel, of her husband, Milad Abou Mitri, and of Jesus Christ hang on the walls of her one bedroom apartment in the Christian Hazmieh quarter of Beirut .
They are all pictures of dead men.
Abou Mitri is a stocky 59 year old woman. She has a goiter, deep and dark eye sockets, and shiny white hair. On December 26, 1992, she looks at the pictures, cries, lights up a cigarette and coughs heavily.
Tony was killed in 1976 at the age of 14. Abou Mitri said that Tony was playing with his friends when a sniper shot him. Abou Mitri, however, does not know the truth about her son's death. A friend and neighbor of the Abou Mitris, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that Tony joined the Christian militia and went to fight the Muslims in the Markets the night he was killed. His buddies in the Christian militia shot him by mistake.
A large framed picture of her son, Charbel, hangs alone on another wall in her apartment, which was destroyed in 1990 and only recently repaired. In this colored picture, Charbel has a thick black moustache and a thin beard, he is wearing dark Ray Ban glasses and a military uniform. He is carrying his M 16 machine gun in his right hand and a big smile fills his face.
In March 1990, Charbel, who was 24 years old, was killed while fighting the Christian militia. Abou Mitri, with tears running down her face, said that Charbel had joined the Lebanese army two weeks earlier. Abou Mitri, however, does not know how Charbel died. The friend of the family revealed that Charbel was about to fire a rocket launcher when the weapon exploded in his face.
When Charbel died, Abou Mitri removed all the pictures of Christ from the walls of her apartment. "I didn't want God," she remembers, "I didn't want Jesus. I wanted them to leave me alone."
But a few days later she hung the pictures back.
Nine months after Charbel's death, her husband Milad Abou Mitri, who worked at the Youth and Sports Council, died of a heart attack. "Milad suffered deeply because his son, Charbel, was very precious to him," Abou Mitri says.
Abou Mitri, like most Lebanese, has someone to blame for her tragedy. "I hate Samir Geagea, [the leader of the Christian militia]," Abou Mitri storms. "I damn him night and day."
She has refused to celebrate any feasts since her husband's death. Marta sits in her living room heated with charcoal burning on a rack. She sobs heavily and whispers: "I don't like to see feasts, I don't like feasts. I didn't celebrate Christmas this year or the year before. "My family came over with food on Christmas eve, but I told them to take it back home. I want to be miserable. I bear a heavy cross."

...

In the apartment next to Abou Mitri's, Elie Nahas, a 36 year old phone technician at the American University of Beirut, lifts his father, Assaad Nahas, from his bed in the living room. Nahas leans his father's back against the wall, takes his father's feet and slips them into thick but torn socks. Nahas holds his father by the arms and slowly walks him to the bathroom. Everyday, Nahas washes, dresses and feeds his father.
Assaad, a former engineering professor at the AUB, suffers from diabetes. In 1986, a blood clot in the back of his neck paralysed him from the neck downward and impaired his speech. "The war had made my father very angry and tense," Nahas says. "This is why
he has ended up like this."
"In the beginning of our marriage, Elie was spoiled," Marie Constantine, 23, Nahas'wife, says. "I had to tidy his cupboard, prepare his meals and bring him his pyjamas. "Then the bad times came."
In 1988, Nahas married Constantine, who was 19 years old. They lived with his father and his mother, Zakiya. "The ugliest period of the civil war began the day we were married," says Nahas, a balding man with a long pointed nose. Indeed on that day, President Amin Gemayel named Christian General Michel Aoun Prime Minister. Aoun launched "the war of Liberation" against the Syrians in 1989, and then, in 1990, a war against the Lebanese Forces, the Christian militia.
On February 15, 1990, Nahas and his family hid from the heavy shelling in a relative's house, a few blocks away from theirs. At 4 p.m. precisely, a radio news flash announced that Aoun's army had won a major battle against the Lebanese Forces.
The shelling waned. There were 15 people including Nahas in the house. Some went back home. He stayed with his father in the passageway where they had been hiding. Constantine, who was 6 months pregnant, went to make Turkish coffee on a charcoal rack in the
living room with Terese Maalouf, the owner of the house, Zakiya, and Georgette Chaar, a neighbor.
While waiting for the water to boil, Constantine sat on a sofa facing the living room's window and put a pillow against her stomach. Chaar sat next to her. Constantine, kidding, said to Chaar: "Go sit in the chair in front of me. Protect me."
"No," Chaar replied. "If a bomb falls I wouldn't be able to run away." They laughed.
A shell landed in the middle of the room. Maalouf, Zakiya and Chaar were killed instantly. Constantine was badly wounded, but the pillow she was holding had protected her heart and stomach from shrapnel. But shrapnel entered the back of her skull, her legs, her arms, and her back.
When the bomb exploded, Nahas found himself lying on top of his father. He was covered with glass and dust. "I jumped," Nahas remembers. "I ran to the sitting room, screaming 'get out of here, get out of here.' I thought the shell had landed in the garden."
As he entered the living room, he saw his mother lying on her back; he thought she had fainted. He got close and shook her. No sign of life. He turned her. Her back was covered with shrapnel, and most of her bones were broken.
Constantine, however, was still breathing, Nahas carried her in his arms, rushed to his car and sped to the nearby Saint Charles Hospital.
In the car, Constantine woke up, but she felt she could not breath and thought she was dying. She prayed: "I beg you Saint Rita I want to see my parents again." Her thick pullover was covering her mouth and nose. she grabbed it and pulled it away
from her face. "I felt alive again," she recalls.
But then she looked at her legs. "I saw my knee opened like a flower," Constantine says. She fainted and remained unconscious for three days.
Constantine underwent 20 operations. She stayed in the hospital for six months. The doctors thought it was too risky for her to keep her baby because of the morphine and other drugs she was taking. So she had a caesarian. It was a boy.
"At the hospital I cursed God a hundred times a day," Constantine says. "I was in pain. But if it wasn't for him we would all be dead. Now I thank God for keeping me alive, I thank him for keeping my arms and legs."
Constantine's left arm, however, is paralysed, and she limps because she cannot bend her right knee.
In pictures before what she calls "the incident," Constantine had a plump face, red cheeks, and the freshness of youth glimmered in her eyes. Although Constantine has overcome her
tragedy and works hard both at her job and at home, her face is white and her eyes are weary.
Three months after Constantine left the hospital, war broke out again. This time her apartment was reduced to rubble. The first bomb blasted through Abou Mitri's kitchen into their bedroom. The second crashed through their bedroom window and exploded in their living room. The third entered through their living room's window and into Abou Mitri's bedroom, and the fourth crashed through the roof, through their living room and exploded in the flat beneath theirs. Luckily, nobody was in the building on that day.
"Elie [Nahas] and his cousins stayed a whole year rebuilding the house," Constantine sighs. "But we still can't afford a door between the living room and our bedroom."
Today Nahas and Constantine are facing hard times because of the hyperinflation that has hit the Lebanese economy since the war ended.
"I wish the war would come back," Constantine storms. "Is dying of hunger better? I would choose any day bombs and food over no bombs and no food."
Together Nahas and Constantine make $300 per month, which is not enough to buy food and pay for Assaad's insulin. So their families help them.
"There is no hope in Lebanon," Constantine says. "We work day and night just to survive. We have to pack up and get the hell out of this country."
Seventy year old Assaad, unshaven and wearing a bonnet, suddenly opens his eyes wide and shouts: "I am sorry I am lying like this. I am worth nothing."
"Father," Nahas replies, "in this country we are all worth nothing."

...

Odette Salem will never stop looking for her children, Richard and Christine, who were kidnapped in 1985 on Sadat Street in West Beirut.
"The war has ended," says Salem. "But my nightmare hasn't. How can we talk of peace when I don't know where my children are?"
On Tuesday September 17, 1985, Salem cooked lunch for her children. They usually returned home from work at 2 p.m.. But, Richard, who was 23 years old, and Christine, who was 20 years old, were late.
Salem waited for them on the balcony of her house in the Sakiat al Janzir district in West Beirut. It was 3 p.m. and they still had not come. She phoned the Joseph Salem design company in Hamra Street, West Beirut, where Richard and Christine worked. She was told that they had left an hour ago.
She thought they had had a car accident, so she phoned all the hospitals in the capital. Nothing. She rushed to her neighbor, Colonel Issam Abou Zaki, who today is the national Chief of Police. He phoned the capital's precincts. Nothing. In August and September 1985, fifty Christians were kidnapped in West Beirut. Salem's children were among them. The Hezbollah, she says, kidnapped Richard and Christine to exchange them with Shiites, held by the Christian militia.
"During the war," she says, "I worried about bullets, bombs and mines. But I never thought my children would be kidnapped."
After news spread about the abduction, Salem received a phone call from a person demanding a ransom. "Three days after they were kidnapped," she recalls, " I received a phone call. A man asked me for 100,000 Lebanese Pounds [about $3000 at the time]." But the call was a prank.
Many people asking for money called her; but none knew where her children were.
Salem, whose husband died of a heart attack in 1982, says that she suffered from severe depression for the three years following her children's abduction. She was hospitalized several times. Now she lives on tranquillizer and can hardly fall asleep before 3 a.m.. She has suffered a slipped disk, a severe case of sinusitis; her kidneys need surgery urgently.
"I am a wreck," she says smoking her fourth cigarette in 40 minutes. "But I won't have surgery before I see my children. What if they are released and I am still in the hospital? Who would they go to? I am the only family they have left."
Her children have become her only purpose in living since 1985, when she founded the Parents of the Kidnapped Association. She has organized rallies and lobbied politicians and journalists. "Promises, promises, promises, is all I get from politicians," Salem says. "Last year, this idiot [former Prime Minister Omar] Karami told me, with a smile on his face, that there were no kidnapped left alive. I walked out of his office."
Indeed after the Lebanese Forces and the Hezbollah released 14 hostages in July 1991, the government considered the case closed. Salem, however, is convinced that her children are still alive.
"Last year," she says, "a former kidnapped [ whom she refused to name] told me that he was held with my son at the Sheik Abdallah barracks in Baalbak [once a Hezbollah stronghold]. "Now the [Lebanese] army took over the barracks, and they [Hezbollah] moved him."
She met with Hezbollah leaders, the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the Iranians. Nothing. Her crusade will continue until she sees Richard and Christine, dead or alive, she says.
Everynight Salem looks at the photo albums of her children and talks to their pictures. " This is all I have left," she says weeping. "I am living with their pictures."

...

Dr. Elie Karam is a psychiatrist at the Saint Georges Hospital in Achrafieh, a quarter in East Beirut. He participated on a research project on depression around the world, directed by Dr. Myrna Weissman, a psychiatric epidemiologist at the New York state Psychiatric Institute and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. In December 1992, the study, which stated that depression is on the rise worldwide, was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and in the New York Times. Karam also wrote a scientific paper on post traumatic stress disorder - PTSD.
His office is equipped with computers linked via satellites to U.S. computer libraries, which is very unusual in Lebanon considering that local phones rarely work. In another part of his office, is a framed handwritten letter that reads:
"Dear Elie,
The essential is that his blood pressure is normal and his arteries were not hit.
He received a metallic fragment that went between the carotid and the trachea without touching either of them. It got stuck to a vertebrae without wrecking the nerves.
Dr. Tawil is doing the necessary to get it out.
He also had a slight torso injury. It was treated. Everything is fine.
His left leg is fractured.
But All vital signs are all right. Thank God for that. He has no permanent wound. The kid will be normal.
Calm down. We are three surgeons and we are taking care of him.
[Signed:] Dr. Emile Riachi"

The kid referred to in the letter is Karam's son, Marc.
Riachi, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Saint Georges, sent this letter to Karam's house, a few blocks away from the hospital, on January 31, 1990, when the inter-Christian battle broke out in East Beirut.
On that day the shelling was intense in the Christian areas and Marc and his younger brother, Antony, were aboard a bus returning home from school. The bus was blitzing through Sin El Fil, a quarter in East Beirut, when it drove on a mine. Three children were injured, among them Marc and Antony, whose legs were injured, nose broken and eardrums pierced.
The children evacuated the bus and ran for shelter. In their flight, Antony and Marc saw a charred man's body in a burned out car. Once inside a building, Antony had the strength to phone his father and tell him what had happened.
"My wife [Aimee Karam] and I panicked and cried," Karam recalls. "I didn't run to rescue them. I was afraid of the shelling. I felt so silly because I was a coward."
The kids were taken to the Saint Georges Hospital where Karam and Aimee joined them. For three months Achrafieh, the area where the hospital is located, was under siege and under constant shelling. The Karams, whose apartment was hit by 26 shells, were stranded in the basement of the hospital for the whole period.
"There was little food in the hospital," Karam says. "We ate a lot of chocolate and bread."
In 1991, Karam attended a psychiatric conference in Washington D.C.; his kids were with him. Karam snuck into Antony's hotel room early one morning and found him awake but motionless. Later, Antony told Karam that he did not sleep all night because he felt a calcified man was lying next to him. Antony was frozen. He did not want the man to crumble.
Karam says that his children are still traumatized. "At home, when I turn on the loud speakers," Karam says, "and they make a loud noise, PAH, my children jump. My children still dream about the war, and they are terrified of thunder. Antony wasn't scared of thunder before the incident, but now he sleeps next to Marc when he hears it.
"But I never really knew what the fuck PTSD was about until I saw the driver of their school bus."
Karam described the driver's condition as numbness. Although he was not injured by the mine, the driver is still in a state of shock. He stopped driving, is withdrawn and cries for hours when he remembers the incident.
In 1980, when Karam, fresh from Washington University in Saint Louis, started his study on depression in Lebanon, his hypothesis was that war did not affect the psyche. "This was wrong," he says today. "The more you are exposed to war, the more you are crippled emotionally."
*
In 1976, Christian militiamen massacred and expelled the Palestinian and Shiite living in the Karantina Camp, next to the Beirut harbor. In December 1992, some Shiites returned to the camp to reclaim their houses, but they found Christian refugees occupying them.
In 1983, the Druzes militia had ousted these Christians from their villages in the Chouf mountains. And In December 1992, most Karantina Christian refugees also returned to their villages only to find their houses in ruins.
Youssef Merhej, 22, who lives with his parents in a shack in Karantina, says: "This is not our house. Its Muslim proprietors [he doesn't know their name] have the right to claim it back. One day, we will all go back home."
On September 6, 1983, the Merhej family and 600 villagers escaped from Moouch, a Christian Maronite village in the Chouf mountains. The Druse militia killed the villagers who had remained. Nemr and Lamia Merhej, who were laborers, and their seven children left all their belongings and their money in the village. They thought they would return in a couple of days.
They hid in the woods for the first night. The next night they found shelter a mile away from Moouch in the Mar Maroon Monastery. And then they walked for a day to the village of Deir El Kamar, which had become a refuge to all Christian villagers in the Chouf. Soon after, the Druse militia besieged Deir El Kamar.
Food became scarce. "My father [Nemr]," recalls Georgina Merhej, 18, "worked all day at the bakery to get us each a loaf of bread." Once they ran out of flour for three days: They ate biscuits and boiled snails.
When the siege ended in November 1983, the Merhej family moved to East Beirut. They lived in the Don Bosco Monastery for three years and then moved to Karantina. Youssef, who was 12 years old, stopped studying and worked with his father, Nemr, on construction sites. "The family had to survive," Youssef says. "No one, not even the priests at Don Bosco, helped us. We had to rely on ourselves."
Today, the Merhej family is anxious to return to Moouch, but their house is destroyed. "I like my village," says Charbel Merhej, 10. "But without the ruins." Charbel was two years old when he left the village, but he vows: "The Druzes will not kick us out again, I will kick them out this time."
His mother, Lamia, shouts at him: "Shame on you. We have to become brothers with the Druzes again."
The rest of the family agrees with Lamia. And Georgina enthusiastically pulls from her school bag a poem called "Striving for humanity", which she wrote a year ago, and reads it.
"Show me where we can find peace
Can we find it on earth, our birthplace?
No, there is never peace on earth,
Only suffering and wars;
No joy, no gaiety,
No love, no brotherhood.
Tears and cruelty is all we find
Tyranny and suffering.
Where can we find happiness?
Where can we find tenderness?
Away from Sadness,
Away from fear.
Let us search for an angelical life,
And run away from these evil surroundings.
Let us build the round device,
With love and help from everybody,
to change hell into paradise."

...

Mohamad and Maryam Deeb live with their son, Kamel, 24, in a cabin amidst the ruins separating East from West Beirut. "I am ashamed of receiving guests," Maryam shouts. "I am not happy here. I want to go back home."
Home for Maryam is her three-room house in Chakra, South Lebanon. In the winter of 1986, the South Lebanese Army, Israel's ally, stole her savings, burned her house and tortured her son, she says.
The Israelis and their Lebanese proxies stormed into Chakra in retaliation for the killing of two Israeli soldiers. Kamel was 18 years old when the SLA caught him. He was fighting with the Amal (hope) branch of the Islamic Resistance. "We had to defend our villages," he says. "We knew that the Israelis overpowered us, but it is better to fight than to surrender. It is better to be made prisoner with honor than without. God gave us that land, and we have to fight for it."
The SLA took Kamel to a prison camp. " They made us [the prisoners] take our tops off," he says. "We were blindfolded and our hands were tied behind our back. They made us stand 17 hours outside in the cold."
Things soon got worse. The SLA beat up Kamel, and then they taught him how to "dance", he says. "I danced every time electricity penetrated my body," he says.
An SLA interrogator, Kamel says, used a 150 Amperes battery powered manually with a crank linked to cables. The torturer attached a cable on Kamel's hand, another on his back and sprayed him with water.
"He started electrocuting me with 24 volts," he says. "I didn't talk. So he went for 110 volts. Not continuous. Little shocks." Kamel told the SLA everything they wanted to know. Three days later they released him.
"When he came back to Chakra," Maryam recalls,"his skin was blue." Kamal's wounds were treated at the local hospital, but he has had regular nervous fits since then. Neither the Lebanese government nor the International Red Cross helped him. It was Amal, a Shiite militia, that payed his medical bills.
In 1986, Kamel and Maryam left for Beirut and settled with Mohamad, who is a handyman at the Beirut harbor, in the ruins of Sheeyah, a Shiite area. Kamel enlisted in the Shiite militia.
In 1991, however, most Lebanese militias disbanded. They stopped paying salaries. Kamel became unemployed. In his village he was a builder making $20 a day. But in 1992, in Beirut, builders are paid $4 a day.
"I feel ashamed," he cries, "I cannot find a job with a good pay. I sacrificed myself for this country, but it took away my hopes and my dreams."

...

Ahmad Diwan, 7, stands with eight of his young friends in a dumping ground behind the headquarters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine at the Ein El Heloua camp in South Lebanon. His buddies are clapping, whistling and laughing at him. He had just sang a song they had not heard for many years:
"Daddy bought me a present
A machine gun and a rifle.
The army of liberation taught us
how to defend our nation.
Our nation is precious, precious.
No amount could buy it.
if you give us millions,
we won't give you Palestine.
Palestine is our land
and the Israelis are dogs
that beg at our doors.
Long live Palestine,
death, death to Israel.
Israel, you daughter of a dog,
why did you wage war?
When you heard the tanks,
you started barking like a dog."

This, however, is just a song for them: Ahmad and his older brother Ibrahim, 11, don't want to fight. They want to go to school. "Education will bring us back to our land,"says Ibrahim, who holds a soccer ball." Then, he adds: "I want to become a soccer player, like [soccer star Diego] Maradona."
"But they say he is a Jew," says his friend, Hussein Yassin,14.
"So what?" Ibrahim replies. "He is still a great player."
The youngsters burst into a guffaw. Ibrahim kicks the ball. They all sprint after it and start a soccer game.
A few feet away, ten heavily armed men walk at a fast and determined pace in the muddy streets of the camp. They are PLO fighter patrolling the narrow and busy alleys of Ein EL Heloua, that are decorated with Palestinian flags, pictures of Yasser Arafat, and posters calling for the return of the 400 Palestinians expelled by Israel in December 1992.
The Fedayeen have thick beards and carry M-16 rifles with grenade launchers, RPG Anti-tank rocket launchers, and Kalashnikovs. Their commander, Mounir Al Mokdeh - Abou Hassan - asserts: "Our rifle is our ticket back to Palestine. I am raising my children with a rifle in their hands."
But Lebanese Army tanks surrounding Ein El Heloua confine Abou Hassan's guerillas to the camp. And inside the camp most Palestinians are not eager to fight anymore.
"I want my children to succeed in life," Salwa Jehari, the mother of three boys, says. "I don't want them to become fedayeen. It is not worth it. It will only bring them misery."
Many mothers in the camp agree with Jehari because they remember the miseries they lived through when the Israeli army besieged Ein El Heloua in 1982, and when the Shiites shelled the camp in 1986.
"I want my children to get educated and cultured," says Maryam Miaari, the mother of three boys and four girls. "I will not encourage my sons to fight. They will choose their own way once they finish school."
Her older son, Ibrahim, 18, is studying computer sciences at the Technical School in Sidon, the city where Ein El Heloua is located. His only wish, he says, is to study in Europe or the U.S.. But Miaari's husband, Mohamad Miaari, a doorman for the camp's youth club, wants his sons to fight for their land. "We have a cause," says Mohamad, whom the Israelis imprisoned for five months in 1982. "We are all going to die someday. So it is better to die with honor."

...

Mahmoud El Shami, 24, looks tenderly at his sister, Rania, 8, who is playing with her cat, Lucy. "I love Rania so much," he says with tears in his eyes. " When she was one year old, she called me 'daddy'. I still tremble and cry when I remember that."
In the spring of 1985, a shell exploded next to their house in the southern suburbs of Beirut, killing El Shami's father, Mohamad. After that explosion, El Shami and his two younger brothers, Hussam and Abed, quit school and started working to support their mother and three sisters.
"I will never leave my family to get married," says El Shami, who is a car mechanic. "I live for them."
Like El Shami, between 15 and 26 percent of children in Lebanon lost at least one family member in the war, according to the Canadian Institute for Peace and Security. "Kids exposed to war are unhappy, scared, and pessimistic," says Mona Macksoud, a researcher at the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. Though professional help is absent in Lebanon, Macksoud says, the most affected children are still functioning because of family support. "The families [in Lebanon] are very close," she says, "and very emotionally reliable."
"In our family," says Bechara Moubarak, 26, "we all help one another." Moubarak lives with his sisters, Najat and Rita, and younger brother, Dany, in Tahwita, East Beirut. In 1985, their mother, Mona Moubarak, was buying vegetables on the street beneath her apartment, when a bomb fell directly on her, tearing her into pieces and killing the vegetable salesman.
Moubarak, who had been peeking at his mother from their balcony on the sixth floor, witnessed her death, and raced down the stairs to rescue her.
When he reached the street, he screamed and cried for help. Joseph Faddoul, a veteran photographer captured the moment: In a black and white photograph, Moubarak kneels in a puddle of blood and dirt, between the body of his mother and that of the salesman. Mona's legs are pulled to pieces, and her face is covered with blood.
"Bombs were still landing around us," Faddoul says, "but Bechara [Moubarak] wouldn't let go of his mother. I had to carry him into the building."
Three years after Mona's death, Moubarak's father, Georges, died of a heart attack. Today, Moubarak is an independent carpenter, and both Najat and Rita are secretaries. Their combined income is about $700 a month, which is enough for them to send Dany, 18, to study accounting at college.
"They [Moubarak and his sisters] are sending Dany to college," says Matild Rizkallah, their grandmother,"in memory of their parents. Dany was their favorite child."
Moubarak, a shy young man with rugged hands, red cheeks and sad eyes, says that his generation has lost hope in Lebanon. "A lot of young people are leaving the country," he says. "I won't. The world is filled with disease, misery, and destruction."
Elie Souleiman, 16, whose mother, Jamal Souleiman, was killed in 1989, is more pessimistic than Moubarak. "I don't care about marriage, money or Lebanon," says Souleiman with a trembling voice. "I don't care about my future. I have no future."
The bomb that killed Souleiman's mother, killed his two sisters, Mary and Nawal, and handicapped his father, Michel Souleiman, who stopped working. Souleiman, a skinny but aggressive young man, quit school and has worked as a hairdresser since.
He works from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. every day at Salon Issam, a hairdresser shop a few blocks away from his house in the quarter of Ein El Rumaneh, East Beirut. His job earns him $200 a month which he spends on his family. Souleiman lives with his father, his grand mother, and his retarded brother, in two tight and damp rooms. Although the picture of Jesus Christ is glued to the front door and to the walls of Souleiman's apartment, he says that he hates God. "I am a kafer ["an infidel"]," he says. "My mother and I prayed every night. What good has it done her? Now I curse him."
El Shami, however, a Sunni Muslim who says that the war robbed him of his youth, believes in God. Pointing at his sister, Rania, he prays: "May God send all the kids of Lebanon better days."

...

Last Christmas, Joseph Cicipio, a former American hostage in Lebanon, and his wife Elham Ghandour invited 31 Lebanese children on a tour of the United States.
Among them was Charbel Chakkar, 14, an orphan at the SOS Village orphanage in the Metn mountains. "I prefer America to Lebanon," says Chakkar, sitting on his bed at the orphanage amidst the presents he brought back from the U.S.. "Here [in Lebanon] everything is in ruins. There are no traffic lights. There is no order. It will never get better because we are barbarians."
Chakkar is part of the post-war generation of Lebanese, who will have to make sure that civil war will never erupt again in Lebanon. They will have to rebuild bridges, shattered by war, between the 17 different religious communities that make up Lebanon.
It is a hard task , especially for Chakkar, a Christian, who was 4 years old when he witnessed the slaying of both his mother and father by Druse militiamen.
He rarely talks about it, says Joseph Massaad, the director of SOS village. "Right now," says Boutros Ghanem, a psychiatrist at the orphanage, "there is nothing wrong with Charbel. "But trauma is latent in people who are exposed to a violent event at an early age. It can explode at any time."
In 1991, Chakkar's cousin, Choukat Chakkar, a soldier in the Lebanese army, gunned down five Druse civilians, in revenge for his relatives' death.
Chakkar, however, an ambitious and spirited kid, condemns civil wars. "In Yugoslavia," he says, "Muslims and Christians are killing each other. Like us, they are really stupid."
On a bench in the playground at the Dr. Mohamad Khaled Institute, an orphanage in West Beirut, sit four Muslim kids. Three of them, who never mixed with Christians, shout that Muslims and Christians cannot live together. The fourth kid, Radwan Chreyteh, 12, stands up and shouts angrily at them: "I have a Christian friend and I like him very much.
"Look around you. Look at the destruction and misery. We have to live together like brothers if we want to rebuild our country."

The Cartoon World War

2006-02-07T07:19:00.000+02:00

The Cartoon World War has begun. And Iran has just deployed its cartoons of mass destruction and will fire them at any time in retaliation to the Danish offense.

Indeed, the Guardian newspaper reported today that Iran's best-selling newspaper, Hamshari which is owned by the Tehran city council, announced it would retaliate [against the Danish cartoons] by running images satirizing the Holocaust.

Now Eritrea who is in a conflict with Ethiopia is thinking of launching its own starving Ethiopian cartoons and North Korea who's relations with Japan are shaky is thinking about Hiroshima and Nagazaki cartoons.

Bashar Assad woke up this morning and realized that cartoons are more dangerous than bombs. He immediately ordered his mukhabarat to plot with Teshreen and Al Thawra a series of dead Hariri cartoons for February 14.

To avert the spreading crisis, UN Secretary General Kofi Anan has suggested sending cartoon inspectors to all these troubled countries. All concerned countries felt cornered and threatened him with racist and offensive African slavery cartoons.

The Union of Cartoon Characters (UCC) represented by Tom and Jerry, Archie and Mikey Mouse held an urgent meeting and issued the following statement: "Our reason for being is to bring joy and laughter to people's hearts. Stop the offensive cartoon conflicts that make people sad and angry and give us a bad name.
If you do not stop, cartoon characters the world over will start blowing up your TV sets and burning your newspapers".

In a sharp reply, George W. Bush, who was refused membership in the UCC on mental health grounds, said:"We shall track the terrortoons and defeat them wherever they are".

Giving Lebanon a Chance

2006-02-06T16:21:00.000+02:00

General Michel Aoun, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement which took 75 percent of the Christian vote in the last elections, met with the leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nassrallah, in the Mar Mkhayel (St. Michael) Church in Chiyah.

At first I thought that the meeting was absurd, but after the press conference it became clear to me that this act has not only eased sectarian tensions but has also paved the way for a real dialogue between the Lebanese.

This morning while in Achrafieh most Christians I met held the whole Sunni community responsible for what happened yesterday. I heard comments like "we cannot live with them" and "the best thing is to immigrate to Canada".
A lot of people blamed the government for not breaking the riot by force of arms without thinking of the consequences. If any of the rioters had died, the gates of hell would have opened.
This, however, does not mean that the government is blameless. Indeed much better preventive measures should have been taken that would have limited the demonstration to law abiding citizens.
The Minister of the Interior resigned and the government vowed to compensate all local businesses and private citizens that were affected but that is not enough for Aoun.

However, the meeting this evening between the Sayyed and the General is truly historic and has resurected in me hope for an independent, free, liberal and strong Lebanon.

May God protect those two leaders (from car bombs) -because they truly behaved like ones today- and the paper that was agreed upon between the two sides which tackles important subjects like the weapons of the resistance, the right of Lebanese immigrants to vote, the way to deal with the Lebanese collaborators that have escaped to Israel after the liberation of the South, corruption and the relation with Syria in a very serious and systematic way.

A plan for a new Lebanon has been written between two major representatives of the Lebanese people. Maybe Saad Hariri, Walid Jumblat and Samir Geagea will be intelligent enough and free enough to grab the opportunity and build upon it.

Let us give Lebanon a chance.

...And the Danish Consulate Remained Untouched

2006-02-06T15:39:00.000+02:00

I took these pictures this morning in Achrafieh:
The thugs removed the cross from the front entrance of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Beirut, they broke the windows of the Mar Maroun Church in Jemayzeh and threw a private car (Jeep) on its side next to the church and burned the offices that are in the same building as the Danish consulate, which remained untouched.
The pictures below: In the burned headquarters of the Team advertising agency which just spent US$1.2 million redecorating its state of-the-art offices a sign says "enough...they burned the country's religion" and the only thing left from the offices of Bank Lati is their flag.

I Hate Therefore I Am

2006-02-06T06:38:00.000+02:00

[The three posts hereunder were written in a moment of anger at the riots on Sunday. I am sorry if it offended some of you. But I truly believe that Sayyed Hassan has much potential for good and that the Resistance is not a militia but a truly patriotic movement.
However, Sayyed Hassan has to moderate some of his angry speeches which, unlike my blog, can have dangerous consequences.]

Who is responsible? asked Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah yesterday evening after the demonstration against the Danish cartoons that degenerated into an orgy of hate and destruction.

Who is responsible? You Mr. Nasrallah, you are responsible.

Your rhetoric transmitted over and over again on your TV and radio stations is responsible.
Your fundamentalism, your hate, your skewed vision of the world and your love of death is responsible.

Did you not hear about the radio in Rwanda that caused the death of 1 million Tutsis at the hand of bloodthirsty Hutu gangs?

Your Manar TV and your radio station are doing exactly that. You are doing exactly that.
For you, a good Lebanese is a bearded Muslim that believes that the world is constantly plotting against Islam because of Israel, and everybody else is a traitor that should be struck down by lightning.

Nasrallah you sell hate. You have no message except hate. You know nothing except hate. You excel in hate. You are an empty shell full of negativity.

You cried in public when you mentioned how some cartoons offended the Prophet. But when you delivered your speech on the same day of your son's death, you did not shed a tear.

You revel in death. You revel in hate. And anyone who loves life deserves to die.

This is what you have been telling us over and over again.

You said that politicians should stop exploiting the incidents that happened during this "peaceful demonstration", while you exploit Ashoura and every other occasion to promote hate and division.

You hate the fact that Christians, Sunnis, Druzes and a lot of Shiites are united in their love of life, in their love of Lebanon. You, your Syrian and Iranian allies want to divide these parties that form Lebanon.

You said that Hezbollah did not participate in the demonstration yesterday, well your hate and words filled the hearts of every stone throwing thug.Remember what you said: “It is about the prophet of 1.4 billion Muslims ... and I am confident that not only are there millions of Muslims but … hundreds of millions of Muslims that are ready to sacrifice their lives...for the dignity of their Prophet.”

Nasrallah you are hate, destruction, weapons and death. This is your ideology. This is what Ayatollah Khomeiny taught you and millions of other like you, this is what Ayatollah Khamanei is teaching you all and this is what the Islamic Republic of Iran is all about.

Without the Islamic Republic of Iran there would not have been any Bin Laden or Zarqawi or Hamas. The Islamic Republic of Iran opened the highway to Islamic Fundamentalism.

Unfortunately George W. Bush is right: you are the Islamo-fascists and your ideology has to be vanquished the same way the other absolutists of the 20th century were.

I Accuse Iran, Syria and their Lebanese Allies

2006-02-05T17:38:00.000+02:00

What took them so long?

The racist caricatures against the Prophet Mohammed were published 5 months ago in a country far away.
Saudi Arabia reacted by recalling its Ambassador. Other Arab and Muslim countries also took the same course of action. And people all over the Arab world started the civilized boycott of Danish products.

Then came Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, and the exploitation started.

Iran is in a confrontation with the West. Syria is in an international and internal political quagmire and Hezbollah has been under pressure internally to give up its weapons.

The fundamentalist Shiite government of Iran, their Alawites allies in Syria and Hezbollah are exploiting the offensive caricatures to rally Muslims all over the world. They became the self-appointed defenders of the faith.

They are selling the following logic: the caricatures are part of a grand conspiracy against Islam. George Bush was serious when he said that he was on a crusade and the US and their allies want to change the holy Koran. This is why they prompted the European newspapers to insult the Prophet Mohammed. All Muslims must unite to fight the West.

The zealot Nasrallah raised the Muslim protest bar when he said a few days ago that recalling ambassadors from Denmark and other countries is not enough and he called for acts of violence against those who offend the Prophet’s name. He said this in front of thousands of his supporters, and his speech was transmitted and retransmitted on Manar TV.

On Saturday demonstrators in Syria heeded Nasrallah's call and burned the Danish embassy. Such an act could not have been committed in Syria without the blessing of the regime’s security apparatus.

And then came the Achrafieh demonstration, an originally peaceful demonstration that was hijacked by Syria’s agents, principally the Ahbash group, their Palestinian allies and other pro-Syrian Lebanese parties under the guise of defending the Prophet.

It is obvious what Syria, Hezbollah and Iran are trying to achieve in Lebanon, and that is to break the strong bonds between the Christian and Sunni communities that were created on March 14, 2005 and to create sectarian tensions that would break the government that represents the majority of Lebanese and permit Syria to dominate once again Lebanon’s politics.
Unfortunately, after today, they might succeed, especially if Michel Aoun and his supporters exploit the fear of their Christian voters to win the upcoming elections in Baabda-Alley, paving the General's way to the Presidency.

Barbarians

2006-02-05T12:20:00.000+02:00

"Barbarians," this is how Walid Eido, a Sunni legislator, described the few demonstrators who attacked policemen and firemen, threw rocks at a Maronite Church, breaking some of its windows, destroyed private property and burned the Danish consulate.
The demonstration, protesting racist cartoons poking fun at the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper, degenerated into a secterian mess when "a few agents provacateurs" threw rocks at police, took over army and police vehicles and attacked a chruch.

According to people present, those who sabotaged the demonstration were members of the Ahbash, a pro-Syrian Sunni group and their Palestinian allies.

All Muslim political and religious leaders strongly condemned the violence and asked the government to take the strongest measures against the perpetrators.
A few days earlier, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had called Muslims to committ violent acts against those who had humiliated the Prophet.
MP Saad Hariri said that "foreign forces" were behind the violent acts.
Eido said that these violent people were copycats, in reference to the burning of the Danish embassy yesterday in Damascus.
Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan said that the Interior Ministry had prior information about the intentions of some of the demonstrators and did not take enough precautions.

Ibrahim the Shepherd

2006-02-03T17:08:00.000+02:00

Ibrahim the shepherd laid lifeless next to his dead sheep.
It took one Israeli bullet to kill the sheep. But the three Israeli bullets that hit Ibrahim Rahayel in the neck, the back and the foot did not kill him immediately.
He fell on Lebanese soil, a teenager. He bled for hours under his killers’ gaze and then he died quietly.
According to As Safir newspaper, an Israeli force of about 20 commandos crossed the Lebanese border from its position in Ramta and hid behind rocks on Tuesday.
Ibrahim, the Lebanese teenage shepherd, was attending his flock 700 meters from the blue line separating Lebanon from Israel. At about 1 PM the Israeli soldiers shot seven bullets one of which hit a sheep point blank in the head.
Ibrahim carried the dead sheep and ran when the Israelis shot the 3 fatal bullets.
Three hours later, Ibrahim's father said to the newspaper, a UN patrol came to the area but did not notice his son's body.
It was Youssef who, worried about Ibrahim’s whereabouts, first got to him at sunset yesterday.
He tried to lift the body, but could not. He asked the UN peacekeepers that were nearby for help. They lifted Ibrahim’s body to their jeep and took him back home.

Today, the Islamic Resistance attacked the same Israeli position that killed the 17-year-old Ibrahim and in retaliation an Israeli fighter-bomber fired two missiles at a site west of Kfarshouba, while Israeli artillery pounded the area with 155 mm guns.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim's family is crying and his remaining sheep are without a shepherd.

Nasrallah Threatens Denmark, Norway and France

2006-02-02T15:20:00.000+02:00

Before an audience of tens of thousands of his supporters, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, said yesterday that if the Fatwa of Ayatollah Khomeini had been implemented against Salman Rushdie and if he was killed, the racist caricatures against the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper would never have happened.
Boycotting Danish products and recalling ambassadors from Denmark is not enough, he said, and he called for Muslims around the world to take a hard stance.
He added that “if we forgive them only God knows what they will do next”, and that Muslims should try a different approach with Denmark, Norway and France if they do not take appropriate measures.
“It is about the prophet of 1.4 billion Muslims,” he said, “and I am confident that not only are there millions of Muslims but … hundreds of millions of Muslims that are ready to sacrifice their lives...for the dignity of their Prophet.”
He said that followers of all monotheistic religions should take a serious stand against this insult.
Citing freedom of expression, the governments of Denmark and Norway refused to apologize for the 12 insulting caricatures against the Prophet Mohammed published in their local papers.
Nasrallah compared the nordic governments' stand to that of Muslim leaders refusing to apologize in case some Muslim blows himself up in a crowd in Denmark. "After all he is free to blow himself up," Nasrallah added.

Lebanese Teenager Killing Threatens Southern Border

2006-02-02T13:51:00.000+02:00

The killing of Ibrahim Rahayel, a teenage Lebanese shepard, threatens to escalate tensions along the Lebanese border with Israel. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, had vowed retaliation before Rahil's body was found.
U.N. peacekeepers retrieved the body of Rahayel earlier this morning, a day after he went missing near the Shebaa Farms region during Israeli shooting, security sources said.
This incident came soon after the UN Security Council urged the Lebanese government to do more to assert its authority in the south, to exert control and monopoly over the use of force and to maintain law and order on its entire territory.
Israeli murder of Lebanese civilians along the border and daily infringements on Lebanese sovereignty, including almost daily flights by Israeli warplanes, reinforces Hezbollah's rationale against giving up its weapons of resistance.

The Syrian Ghost Haunts Jumblat

2006-02-02T08:20:00.000+02:00

According to a source close to Syria's allies in Lebanon, Walid Jumblat recently called a high ranking General he knew in Syria asking for a new begining with the regime.

The security contact said that he would have to ask Bashar Assad, which he did.
He then called back the Druze leader, who is still hiding in his ancestral home of Mukhtara, telling him that Assad does not think that someone like Jumblat is worth it.
The Syrian general informed Jumblat that he should not worry about his security and that Syria will not harm him.
He then congratulated him on the new egg that the stork he keeps in Mukhtara had. Jumblat was at a loss. How could this Syrian know about the stork on the same day of it laying the egg?

On another day, according to the same pro-Syrian source, Jumblat sent his motorcade in advance to an appointment as a security precaution and he took a simple taxi to the place. On his way his phone rang and a voice with a Syrian accent said: "riding in a taxi doesn't suit you Walid Bey".

The Syrian Regime Brings The Al Qaeda Franchise to Lebanon

2006-02-02T08:11:00.000+02:00

The Syrian regime and its Lebanese and Palestinian allies are using the Al Qaeda brand name as a scare tactic. Their basic message to the Lebanese government is the more you put pressure on us, the more of an “Iraq” Lebanon will become.
Hezbollah sources have been warning about an Al Qaeda presence in Lebanon for most of last year. Then came the Al Qaeda-claimed missile attack on Nothern Israel from South Lebanon. Hezbollah, which is in total control of South Lebanon, said that it knew nothing about the operation.
Furthermore, the remaining attacks that Al Qaeda claimed in Lebanon were all directed at the Lebanese army, coinciding with an overhaul of its command when pro-Syrian generals were retired and reassigned to less important posts.
The latest blast came after MP Saad El Hariri’s Washington visit when he asked from the US to re-equip the Lebanese army.
The local franchise for Al Qaeda serves the Syrian regime's interests, however, it will backfire when US policymakers get a hold of the link between Syria, its local allies and Al Qaeda.

Small Blast targets Ramlet Al Baida Army Barracks

2006-02-02T07:20:00.000+02:00

A bomb exploded near the Lebanese army barracks in Ramlet El Baida in Beirut earlier today, slightly wounding one soldier.

About three hours earlier, someone speaking on behalf of Al Qaeda had called a local newspaper, declaring that a security target will be bombed in Beirut in retaliation for the arrest last month of 13 group members, according to news reports.

The blast, caused by an explosive charge near or under a car, occurred at around 2 a.m. outside the Fakhreddine Barracks in Ramlet al-Baida district of the capital, shattering windows in nearby buildings.

Last month Al Qaeda also claimed responsibility for a grenade attack on an army outpost around the Ain Al Helwe camp in Saida.

In late December, various internet sites claimed that Abu Mussaab al Zarqawi was responsible for a Katyusha rocket attack against northern Israel from south Lebanon. But Lebanese security sources believe pro-Syrian Palestinian guerrillas were behind that attack.

Solidere: A Giant Wakes Up

2006-02-01T22:10:00.000+02:00

Rooted in Beirut, Solidere will soon grow into a regional real estate company, competing with large Arab developers such as Emaar.
Beirut Notes has learned that Solidere's management will call in the near future for an extraordinary shareholders assembly to amend the appropriate article of incorporation in order to permit the company to expand both on the local and regional levels.

The late Rafic Hariri founded Solidere to reconstruct the central district of Beirut in 1994. Although very controversial, Solidere transformed the heart of the war torn city into a modern, historic and majestic urban centre.

A few months before his death, Prime Minister Hariri's efforts to rebuild Lebanon were recognized by the world community when the United Nations awarded him the prestigious Special Citation for the 2004 Habitat Scroll of Honour in Barcelona.
Due to his roaring success in Lebanon PM Hariri was also awarded two major developments in Jordan - Saraya Aqaba on a 1.5 km beachfront and Abdali on a 34 hectare site west of Amman - through his company, Saudi Oger.

Furthermore, over the years many regional real estate developers dwarfed Solidere, which was the Arab world's private sector pioneer in urban development. The most prominent one being Emaar, which started in Dubai but today has major projects in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey.

Solidere is finally going to leverage its achievements in Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world, giving it a new strategic direction and an opportunity for major growth.

The "irrational exuberance" of the Beirut Stock Exchange

2006-01-30T22:05:00.000+02:00

The Beirut Stock Exchange is exploding. The price earning ratios of some stocks cannot be explained. A ceramics company has a P/E of 234, the average P/E of banks is above 20 and Solidere, the largest company on the BSE, has a P/E of 76, (a bit much for a real estate equity).

Given the bad state of the Lebanese economy (its Gross Stock of Debt reached 178 percent of GDP in 2004, according to the IMF), the BSE seems to be on another planet. Of course there is excess Arab capital flowing in and of course there is so much positive feeling for a better Lebanon after the Syrian military withdrawal.
And there are international funds that are buying mostly Solidere and bank shares.

But after looking at the facts, whether political or economic, and analyzing them, any rational investor would rather invest in Zimbabwe than in the country of Najah Wakim and Zaher El Khatib. But then again when it comes to stockmarket "exuberance" everything is possible.
The financial community is talking about Solidere reaching $40 a share or ten times its price a little more than a year ago.

With a total daily volume of trades barely exceeding $50 million, the BSE can be easily manipulated by a few big investors. But as long as someone in Lebanon is making money I am happy, even if it is not me. "Sahtein" (or to your good health).

Between Lebanon's Heaven and Hell

2006-01-30T17:12:00.001+02:00

This picture was taken with my phone while I was trekking yesterday morning.
It was paradise for a while. I was all alone on the mountain. I saw no one I know for hours.
Traces of small animals on the crisp snow, fresh air, the sound of the wind and of my steps, sublime scenery and no nagging girlfriend - I love that Lebanon.

I felt rejuvenated for a few hours and then it was back to the Lebanese version of hell.

Total chaos waited for anyone brave enough to drive his car out of the Warde ski slope parking.
I decided to walk down to the Mzaar hotel at around 2:30 to relax and have something to eat while the traffic jam cleared.

On my way down I heard drivers say that they have been stuck in their cars for more than one and a half hour. One driver was beeping the horn of his station wagon on the beat of the voices of his large family singing in Arabic: "get us out of here! get us out of here!"

It turned out that groups of teenagers started punching one another after their cars were stuck on the icy road leading to the slopes.
They got out of their cars, some wearing t-shirts, and hurled insults to one another's mothers, sisters and manlyhoods. One of them, lanky and frail- looking, jumped in the air, shouting, cussing and brandishing his fist, reminding me of a younger Walid Jumblat.

The police came and ... things got worse. A policeman told a driver - busy getting his kids, their boots and their skis out of the boot of his jeep - to move his car, to no avail. He ordered him to move it. No reaction. He shouted at him to move it. Nothing. He then ... begged him to move it. And the driver answered back: "Are you serious? Do you really think that I am causing the traffic jam?"
The frustrated policeman gave up and stood on the side of the road without interfering for the rest of the afternoon.
I saw him a few hours later in the same place when I walked back up to get my car.

During this time I sat with some friends on the terrace of the Mzaar and it felt like I would have been more relaxed stuck in traffic. Instead I was in the middle of an exhibitionist and voyeur convention. And I couldn't but join the game. The buxom blond with huge lips and bulging breasts. The anti-Syrian politician walking like a star amidst his flock where just one year ago walked the President of the Republic. The bankrupt banker and his corrupt son. The accidental [pirated home movie] star with the jeweler, his wife and her two luscious girlfriends.

After an hour I understood Jean Paul Sartre when he said that hell is the others and I felt like a pervert and I left for the bar.
I had tea and some wine and played a few games of backgammon for another 2 hours until we were told that the traffic was over.
I got my car and I promised myself, like I do every week, that I will stop going to Faraya on Sundays.

To be a Muslim or not to be

2006-01-28T22:38:00.000+02:00

When Muslims from India to Europe boycott products from Denmark in protest at racist and disrespectful caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper then something is rotten in the state of Islam.

Although the drawings are, to say the least in bad taste, there are more pressing issues to protest and there are more unjust countries to boycott.
What about Israel and all its allies that have always ignored the Palestinian tragedy for quite a while. What about the US that has boycotted Iraq, impoverished its population, bombarded it and invaded it. What about Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Iran where human rights violations are rife.

I guess after 58 years of boycotts, peaceful and violent protests, wars, diplomacy, peace talks, revolutions and counter-revolutions and guerilla warfare that have amounted to nothing, protesting a few caricatures and getting an apology from a European government is a great victory.

Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders can always get a little prickly when it comes to their sacred icons, but a few drawings in far away Denmark? What is that all about? Why are they giving these racists so much publicity.
It is exactly what happened to Ayatollah Khomeiny who made a very rich celebrity out of a pedantic author like Salman Rushdie.

It seems that there is a general Muslim state of bankruptcy and depression. A feeling of inferiority that can only be reversed by violence and protest at the slightest insult.

"Why do they hate us?" can be asked by every US think tank and populist politician and the problem will not be solved until they start asking themselves "why have we hated them for so long?"

Indeed, the colonial history of Europe, the thirst for oil of the West and its pro-Israeli and anti-nationalist policies have certainly played the most important role in destroying the natural development of many Arab and Muslim states.

All secular leaders that wanted to develop their nations were either fought or removed at crucial times in the history of their states. Remember Nasser in Egypt or Mossadegh in Iran.

The US and Europe encouraged the expansion of Islamism during the cold war in all Arab countries and the protests against worthless drawings, the fatwas against words and even the suicide bombings have their origins in short-term and unjust Western foreign policies.

With active encouragement from the US, it was Saudi oil backed capital that permitted the expansion of hardline Islam throughout the world. And the country of the Saud family and their Wahhabi allies have always been under the military and political aegis of the US.

16 years after the end of the Soviet empire, the US and its allies are tasting the poison they had fed to the communists. And everyday this poison becomes more lethal.

Indeed, Jyllands-Posten editor Carsten Juste received several death threats after he published the cartoons last September and hired bodyguards to protect his journalists. The two cartoonists were forced to go into hiding.

Ending the injustices in the Middle East is the best way to fight fundamentalism. US troops should leave Iraq and the UN Security Council should pressure Israel to implement all UN resolutions concerning it.
After that Jyllands-Posten can publish again the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse, portray him as a middle-aged prophet standing in the desert with a walking stick in front of a donkey and a sunset or draw him with a bushy grey beard and holding a sword, his eyes covered by a black rectangle, and nobody would really care not even Bin Laden if he were still alive.

A brief note on Hamas

2006-01-28T10:01:00.000+02:00

The victory of Hamas in the Palestinian territories is good for Israel and bad for the Palestinians.

As far as Israel is concerned Hamas will certainly not create settlements in Tel Aviv, order its air force to bomb Haifa, nor build a wall in Israeli territory and tear families apart.

Having won the elections, Hamas fell into a trap. From now on Hamas is responsible towards Israel and the international community. And any wrong move could surely result in the isolation and annihilation of the Palestinian Authority.

Israel and the US, although publicly weary, got Hamas were they want it. Azmi Bechara, the Israeli-Arab legislator, wrote in As Safir that without the very strong objections of Israel and the US on the Hamas candidates, the fundamentalist party would never have gotten this large a majority.

The only fear is for the moderates in Palestine. Although Hamas does not have a sufficient majority to change the constitution to turn Palestine into an Islamic Republic, it could impose its values on everything from education to public appearance.

The territories could be brought back to the middle ages and nothing could bring the Palestinians out of their misery. And unlike Saudi Arabia where oil compensates for the ignorance and worthless education of the majority of its people, Palestine only relies on the wits of its citizens.

Hamas is no enlightened Islamic party, Hamas is not even Iran where Shiisme encourages thought and discussion, no Hamas is the Taliban.

A tennis champion with Lebanese roots is born

2006-01-27T14:56:00.000+02:00

Unseeded tennis player Marcos Baghdatis, a Cypriot with Lebanese roots, will meet world No.1 Roger Federer in the Australian Open final on Sunday. [He lost...better luck next time].

The 54th-ranked Baghdatis, a 250-1 long shot at the start of the tournament, upset fourth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian in the semi-finals. Baghdatis is trying to become the first unseeded player to win the tournament since Mark Edmondson in 1976.
Baghdatis is a wonderfully ebullient character who radiates

immense enjoyment whenever and wherever he plays, and in Melbourne he has acquired a loyal throng of fans who roar his every winning point.

"I feel like I am at home," Baghdatis, 20, said to an Australian newspaper. "I have 21 cousins here from my Lebanese father's side and I have uncles here too. I love the atmosphere and I love the fans. They are crazy and make me feel very, very comfortable. They help me play my best tennis and feel really confident."

[Al Anwar newspaper wrote on Saturday 28 January 2006 that Christos Baghdatis, Marcos' father, is from Tripoli and that his original family name is Baghdadi. Christos, who lives in Limassol, told the paper that the family along with Marcos will visit Lebanon soon.(http://www.alanwar.com/ar/article.php?id=15260)].

Baghdatis, who started playing aged five, was packed off to a French boarding school to develop his game when he was 14 under an Olympic Solidarity scholarship.

His tough on-court mentality was shaped by this parting from his family and particularly his mother Androulla, highly unusual in the close-knit communities of Lebanon and Cyprus.

"He has sacrificed everything -- his parents, his life here," says Simon Aynedjian, the Cyprus over 35 and over 45 champion.

"I've seen him with his mother, and how affectionate and lovey-dovey they are. He misses it, he has given everything for the game."

He has a younger sister, Zena, and two older brothers who also played Davis Cup for their country. His girlfriend (see picture) is called Camille.

However, The military draft could wreck the tennis player's career if army chiefs on the east Mediterranean island decide to call him up, and his family says the uncertainty is affecting his game.

Not that you would guess from his performances at the Australian Open.

After his extraordinary run at the tournament, Baghdatis is the talk of both Lebanon and Cyprus, countries with virtually no tradition in tennis.

Unfortunately for the unseeded 20-year-old it is virtually impossible to dodge the draft in Cyprus, with all males aged over 18 having to spend 26 months in the armed services.

"We are pleading with the military to give him exemption from the army... they should at least inform him that he will not have to do the army until he is 35. But they are not willing to do that," Baghdatis's Lebanese father Christos was quoted as saying by the Cyprus Mail.

"He is constantly being given postponements from the Ministry of Defense regarding his draft. It is in itself a worry for our son."

Josh's Freudian Slip

2006-01-27T14:26:00.000+02:00

Joshua "I love Assad" Landis wrote: "Part of the reason for Frist’s tough words is that Rafiq Hariri has been in Washington to meet President Bush. Yesterday he spoke at the Woodrow Wilson Institute in Washington DC. I couldn't make his talk as I was speaking at the Middle East Institute in DC at the time and then at Georgetown University with many other Syrianists, in what turned out to be an interesting series of panels organized by Michael Hudson and the Arab Studies Center."
(http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/2006/01/hariri-in-us-what-will-he-get.htm#comments)

Dear Josh,

Although Rafiq Hariri is dead and the person who was in Washington and at the Woodrow Wilson Institute was his son Saad, your Freudian slip makes perfect sense.
Maybe the Syrian regime should adopt your line and not only deny that they killed Hariri but also deny that he is dead.
The Syrian mukhabarat should start spreading rumours that Rafic Hariri was seen eating falafels at Sahyoun in downtown Beirut.
And he was even seen in Israel at Lahd's restaurant.
Josh you are a genius. Bashar Assad should have invited you to attend the Arab Lawyer's conference. You could have clapped for him in Damascus instead of Washington DC and shouted at the top of your voice "I saw Rafic Hariri in Washington...He ain't dead...Assad you're a saint...you can bring people back from the dead".

Take Care
ZadigVoltaire

Good Americans

2006-01-25T13:59:00.000+02:00

“Do you live in a tent?” was a question American kids always asked the children of Marijean Boueri , Jill Boutros, Joanne Sayad, Tatiana Sabbagh during their summers in the U.S..
This question prompted these three American ladies living in Beirut to author “Lebanon A to Z, A Middle Eastern Mosaic”, a beautifully illustrated children’s book exalting everything positive about our country.
Tatiana Sabbagh, a Russian lady married to a Lebanese, painted the portraits gracing the book from cover to cover.
The content and writing style are simple and rich in facts about archaeology, religions, geography, food, traditions, lifestyle, music and many other themes that truly capture what is great about Lebanon.

The authors wrote about very diverse subjects that portray our small country well, including chapters on “kaak” bread in which they say that the Lebanese think that “zaatar” (wild thyme) enhances the abilities of the mind, and on Gebran Khalil Gebran who was quoted by President John F. Kennedy when he said: “'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”.
The book, a celebration of Lebanon's diversity, culture and history, is most valuable for Lebanese immigrants wishing to implant the seeds of Lebanon inside their children.
Although the title makes it sound like another guide which is not the case, the hardback should be present in every Lebanese child’s library. And in case his (or her) foreign buddies come up with ignorant clichés about his roots, he will have a most valuable tool to convince them otherwise.

Shakira for President!

2006-01-24T17:01:00.000+02:00

The Lebanese-Colombian singer Shakira has an IQ of 140, according to the New York “Village Voice”, making her, along with Madonna, the smartest woman in show business today.
“A pro since she was 14 and a Latin American teen idol before the Backstreet Boys hit the Hot 100, 28-year-old Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was only 21 when she conceived a career move more ambitious than Christina Aguilera herself has ever dared: to learn English so she could dye her hair blond and take her art to the next level,” wrote Robert Christgau in the Voice.(http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0603,christgau,71724,22.html)

Sexy, Brainy, talented and rich! Forget Aoun, (Nassib) Lahoud or Harb, we want President Shakira.

President Shakira will solve many issues:
1- Every diplomat will surely visit her and spend more time with her than with the Speaker of the Parliament or the Prime Minister.
2- Gulf Arabs will invest all their money in Lebanon just for an audience and a dance from the President.
3- Bashar Assad will surely improve relations with Lebanon.
4- Hezbollah will drop their weapons after the President threatens Sayed Hassan Nasrallah to visit him at his headquarters in her stage clothes.
5- The LBC weather person will stop greeting the viewers with "bonsoir", instead he would start by saying: "Que Passa, Hombres?"

Viva Shakira!

The Ambition of Nagib Mikati

2006-01-24T15:24:00.000+02:00

The very ambitious Nagib Mikati might think that his time has come, especially after the Saudi spat with Saad Hariri and PM Fouad Seniora over their refusal of the initiative to improve the relations between Lebanon and Syria.
Mikati is presenting himself as a moderate politician that can be relied upon to lead the Sunni community in Lebanon with Saudi backing.
And now that he is loaded with cash after he took his company, Investcom, public, he is ready to spend some of it on his political future.

As a first step ex-Prime Minister Mikati, a telecom tycoon and a close friend of Bashar Assad, recruited Joseph Samaha, Editor in Chief of As Safir, to head his new daily.

Samaha, an ex-communist and a supporter of Hezbollah will be joined by Ibrahim Al Amin, the pro-Hezbollah journalist, as managing editor.

Faycal Salman, the brother of Talal Salman who owns As Safir, had reported that a group of Shiite investors intended to found a newspaper, apparently Mikati has joined them.

Mikati's project to conquer the Prime Minister's throne has just begun. Can Hariri Jr. stop him?

May Chidiac to the Rescue?

2006-01-24T13:57:00.000+02:00

The political end of the 14th of March parliamentary dominance is on the horizon. And they know it, this is why Saad Hariri, Walid Jumblat and Samir Geagea are looking to present a vote proof candidate such as May Chidiac, who lost her arm and her leg to a bomb placed under her car last year, or Dori Chamoun, the Christian leader.

After legislator Edmond Naim’s natural death, a very important election in the districts of Baabda and Alley will take place to replace him. The results of the contest could deal a great blow to the majority’s dominance that brought the current government.

Indeed, the 14th of March alliance got its current status in parliament thanks to the 11 parliamentarians from the region of Baabda-Alley, especially after the backing of Hezbollah.

Even if they lose the contest for this Maronite seat, the alliance will still hold a physical majority in parliament, but Hezbollah and Aoun would have proven that it is not legitimate and that will certainly lead to early general elections based on a new electoral law.

Now that the electoral alliance between Hezbollah, Hariri and Jumblat ended after sharp political disagreements emerged, Hezbollah is expected to back Michel Aoun’s candidate and prove that the current parliamentary majority is but a mirage.

The LF being an important member of the 14th of March, had chosen Naim as their candidate last fall, and their leader, Geagea announced that they will choose another candidate to replace him.

Aoun, who is in the opposition, said that he will also choose his candidate, which will probably be Hikmat Deeb.

Only TV presenter May Chidiac, a supporter of the LF, or Dori Chamoun, whose supporters are mainly located in the district, could present a challenge to the Aoun-Hezbollah electoral alliance. The only problem is that although originally Maronite, Chidiac became an Orthodox after her marriage.

Swiss Banks stops dealings with Syria and Iran

2006-01-23T01:55:00.000+02:00

News agencies and newspapers reported today that Union de Banques Suisses (UBS) stopped all its transactions with companies and individuals from Syria and Iran.(Credit Suisse followed UBS and probably other Western banks will also soon).
One of the largest banks in the world, UBS said yesterday that it has stopped doing business with Iran and very soon with Syria to.

UBS will no longer deal with individuals, companies or state institutions from Iran. A similar policy is also being implemented in the case of Syria, he said.
All existing business with customers in Iran will be canceled, but Iranians in exile are not affected by the decision,

Iran has an estimated $50 billion in European banks and the Islamic Republic’s Central Bank governor said on Saturday that it will move its reserves quickly if it deems it necessary to do so.
UBS holds around $200 billion of assets from the region, especially from Gulf countries, according to a London-based wealth manager.

UK financial authorities target star Lebanese banker

2006-01-22T19:37:00.000+02:00

[2 March 2006 update: The FSA slapped both Philippe Jabre and GLG with a £750,000 fine, according to today's Independent newspaper]
[28 February 2006 update: French regulators are investigating Phillipe Jabre, as part of a wider insider trading probe of London-based hedge funds, The Wall Street Journal reported today.]
[20 February 2006 update: Phillippe Jabre reportedly quit as a director of GLG Partners.]

Philippe Jabre, the most successful Lebanese banker in the world today is being investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the UK for profiting from privileged information on two occasions.
“Philippe has been made a scapegoat,” said George Asseily, a London based Lebanese banker, to the Sunday Times today.
Jabre, who co-owns GLG Partners, Europe's third-biggest hedge fund with $11.5 billion under management, is a major donor to educational institutions and humanitarian causes in Lebanon.
The verdict will be delivered at the end of the month and Jabre may be both fined and banned from trading in the City of London.

The Sunday Times wrote a full page story on Jabre in its business section today. Following is an excerpt:

"“PHILIPPE JABRE was born into a prominent Maronite Christian family in Lebanon on May 23, 1960. “His family owns land near Mt Lebanon,” said George Asseily, a Lebanese banker. “They owned a brewing business which they recently sold to Heineken.”

After studying at the American University of Beirut, Jabre earned an MBA from Columbia University in New York, trained at JP Morgan, then went to work for Banque Nationale de Paris in London. There he became an expert in trading an arcane species of bonds — bonds convertible into shares.

“Philippe was a star and a popular one,” said Neil Tunley, now an executive at the financial firm Charles River Development, who worked for him at BNP.

Jabre joined GLG as a partner two years after the hedge-fund group was founded in 1995. The firm was part of the first wave set up after the industry’s founding fathers, including George Soros and Warren Buffett, blazed a trail from the 1960s to the 1980s.

GLG’s three original partners are Noam Gottesman, 44, an Israeli-American whose family built a commodities business in Amsterdam, Pierre Lagrange, 43, a Belgian, and Jonathan Green, 42, a British broker trained at James Capel.

All three worked at Goldman Sachs in London from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s as brokers for private clients in Europe and the Middle East. In 1995, the three decamped after getting backing from rival Lehman Brothers to start their own business. “They left Friday. They were in business Monday. It was a long time before Goldman would do business with them,” said a former colleague.

Eventually, tensions abated. Goldman became one of GLG’s prime brokers. It did not hurt that Green is a personal friend and business partner of Michael Sherwood, the London-based co-chief executive of Goldman. Green and Sherwood are co- investors in Sepura, a digital-radio company, and Bane Corp, through which they lease private aircraft.

Like most hedge-fund businesses, GLG is based offshore and discloses no meaningful figures about sales, earnings or net value. And, as with most, it makes its money investing other people’s capital and charging clients an annual administration fee of 1%-2% of funds under management, then taking 20% of the profits it generates.

In the late 1990s GLG consistently earned double-digit returns for clients — partly on the back of Jabre’s Market Neutral fund. The fund, which is listed on the Dublin exchange, took hedged positions in convertible bonds.

Then in 2000 the three original partners plus Jabre formed a new company. The four men bought out all but 20% of the Cayman Islands-based parent firm and stuck the stakes in their personal offshore trusts.

The dotcom bust was bad for average investors. It was bad for most pension funds which got stuck holding shares in technology, phone and media companies — but it was good for hedge funds which beat the sinking stock and bond-market indexes.

Over the past five years the hedge-fund community has grown from fewer than 1,000 to 8,000 firms. Funds under management have doubled to £1,100 billion.

In November 2002 Vivendi Universal, the French media giant, was financially overstretched and desperately in need of cash. It employed the London arm of Germany’s Deutsche Bank to manage a sale of convertible bonds. Following industry practice, Deutsche canvassed hedge funds and other investors to get a sense of what size of a Vivendi convertible-bond issue would be digestible at what price. In the course of these conversations, a Deutsche banker spoke to Jabre and his counterparts at several other hedge funds.

The deal was successful. Vivendi has recovered from its financial emergency. But in the three days before the convertible-bond sale was launched Vivendi shares fell 14% as investors sold stock ahead of a dilution of their value as a result of new securities coming onto the market.

The French financial regulator AMF began investigating this fall in Vivendi’s share price. In January 2005 it issued a so-called notice of grievance against GLG and several other hedge funds. Its investigation continues.

TWO months later, more or less the same thing happened with GLG, Sumitomo, and the managers of the Japanese bank’s March 2003 stock sale. In addition to Goldman, the lead manager, Sumitomo also hired JP Morgan and Daiwa Europe to help out with the sale.

In the 1980s Sumitomo was a financial juggernaut. In 1986, when Goldman Sachs needed capital to expand, Sumitomo provided it, buying a 12% stake in the Wall Street firm. Then the Japanese economy imploded. Property values crashed and businesses defaulted. Sumitomo and most Japanese banks were stuck with billions in bad loans.

In the 1990s Japanese banks came under increasing government pressure to clean up their balance sheets. The government set a deadline for problems to be solved by March 31, 2003.

To meet this deadline, Sumitomo merged with another troubled Japanese bank and restructured. In January 2003 Goldman Sachs took a stake, buying $1.3 billion of the Japanese bank’s preferred stock convertible into ordinary stock.

Rumour in the City was that Sumitomo was planning a second sale of preferred stock convertible into common stock — this one on the open market. The talk resulted from soundings being taken by Goldman, JP Morgan and Daiwa Europe. Bankers at the three firms were speaking to London hedge funds to gauge interest in the deal.

The FSA has rules regarding such conversations. If a discussion between a hedge-fund manager and investment banker is vague enough, it is allowed. If, for instance, an investment banker tells a hedge-fund manager, “a large multinational corporate is thinking of doing something in the next few months. What would be your appetite?” that would not stop the hedge-fund manager from trading.

Hedge-fund managers could then try to guess which company was about to sell stocks or bonds and position themselves accordingly. If, on the other hand, an investment banker tells a hedge-fund manager, “Sumitomo is planning a $2.9 billion sale of preferred stock in March” that is privileged information. Passing on such information is not in itself illegal, but it cannot be acted on. In the City it is called “taking an investor over the wall”. Once taken “over the wall”, hedge-fund managers are not allowed to trade in the securities of a company about to do a deal. It is the February 24, 2003 conversation between GLG’s Jabre and Goldman’s London banker John Rustum about Sumitomo three weeks before the sale of its stock became public knowledge that is at the heart of the FSA investigation into GLG and its star trader. Making its case against Jabre and GLG, the FSA has reviewed transcripts of taped conversations. It has matched the time of these conversations with the time Jabre traded in Sumitomo securities. Buy and sell orders are recorded on electronic trading platforms and by tickets written by investors and brokers. In the February 24, 2003 conversation, the FSA’s investigators allege that Rustum supplied details on the forthcoming Sumitomo stock sale. Rustum then said to Jabre: “You’re over the wall,” meaning he could not trade Sumitomo securities until the sale was announced. FSA investigators told the regulator’s panel that Jabre replied: “I already have a position in Sumitomo.” The regulator’s investigators said Jabre then asked Rustum if he could adjust his pre-existing position in Sumitomo securities, and Rustum replied: “I’ll get back to you on that.” Lawyers for Jabre argued that GLG’s star trader took this to mean he had not been “taken over the wall” after all. So, when he dealt further in Sumitomo securities, he was not breaking the law. The FSA’s lawyers argued that, whatever the vagueness on Rustum’s part, Jabre was “over the wall”.

ON JANUARY 9 Jabre took leave from GLG, citing his knee injury and the need to marshal his defences against the FSA. Sources close to the regulator say the FSA’s regulatory decisions committee will issue its decision by the end of the month. The star hedge- fund trader could face a record fine and a bar from working in the City or he could be cleared. The FSA is also considering its decision about GLG. This may depend on how the firm itself deals with Jabre. There is speculation that GLG wants him to resign and sell his stake in the firm. Jabre’s friends are already rallying round. They believe he is a victim of the FSA’s desire to claim a high- profile scalp, and that his partners at GLG are willing to distance themselves from him to protect the firm. “Philippe has been made a scapegoat,” said the Lebanese banker Asseily. How the FSA handles the announcement of its finding will go a long way toward establishing the credibility of its investigation and the regulator’s reputation. It may also give an indication of whether the FSA sees the affair as a one-off or the first round in an ongoing effort to lift the lid on suspicions of insider trading among a circle of hedge-fund managers and investment bankers."

The Billion Dollar Wise Guy

2006-01-22T01:13:00.000+02:00

Prince Talal Bin Abdel Aziz is outraged at the Lebanese who refused the Saudi initiative to end the tensions between Syria and Lebanon and he dismissed Walid Jumblat as a mercurial character.
He also asserted the superiority of the Saudis when he described the Lebanese in general derogatory terms. But he respected Hezbollah describing them as Jihadists and thought that Aoun has all the potential to become President.

Prince Talal is really enjoying undermining Saad Hariri. After all, late PM Rafic Hariri had humiliated the Prince’s son Waleed when the latter made his bid to take over Beirut politically.
And Prince Talal apparently can hold a grudge.
He remembered that Walid Jumblat had insulted his kingdom, his king, his son and least but not last, him and he surely remembered how Hariri broke Prince Waleed political raid on Lebanon.

Why else is this rich-but-unsatisfied-until-I-become-King Talal spreading his wisdom on the Lebanese situation all over newspapers and TV? Let him wise up some more and take his “liberalism” to his family that desperately needs it.

Next time, I suggest that if Prince T. has something to say about Lebanon, let it be positive. If not than let him stick his big nose in the affairs of his father’s kingdom, alternatively he can mail me a check.

"Defending Syria is..." writing proper English!

2006-01-22T00:16:00.000+02:00

The banner behind Assad as he spoke today reads: "Defending Syria is National Right and Duty".
Who is Assad's sign writer? He should blow him up.
How credible are Assad's words if he says them under a flawed syntax.
I thought the tall-geeky-dictator was educated in London but then again he spoke of "treeessson" with Christiane Amanpour on CNN when he meant "treason".
His "I struck a deal with Kissinger and the Israelis to stay in power" dad stuck to Arabic, mini-Assad should instruct his mustachoid fans at the ministry of information to that effect.
In Beirut, the banner written in proper English would be:"Offending Assad is our National Right and our Duty."

Flavours of the Month

2006-01-20T18:41:00.000+02:00

Mandaloun Grill: A good bite in a buzzing atmosphere in Jemayzeh

Pinocchio – Faraya: The cozy Acharafieh Italian trattoria opened a new branch for the ski season

Mayyas: If you want to feel bloated on a good Lebanese-Armenian meze in a homey place Mayyas is the place

Lutecia: To enjoy this Saifi-based eatery you should have a significantly high credit card limit, especially if you order a good French wine from their reasonable list

Bicce: Start with a bellini, order a bottle of Chianti, a few Italian starters in the middle for your guests and then a pasta of their speciality and come out fat and broke at this downtown eatery that could be affiliated to the Milan-based chain.

Cyrano serves pip riddled olive bread

2006-01-20T18:18:00.000+02:00

At the spot of the old Vieux Quartier in Achrafieh, a new restaurant opened a few days ago called Cyrano. It is a French restaurant with a “haloum” salad in the starters menu.
The owner and manager of Cyrano said that his partners, over 10 ladies, insisted to have the dish in the menu. He could not but accept.

Lady partners are a good bet to get any restaurant moving. A lot of ladies with well-to-do husbands are happily investing in this business.
It is prestigious to say that they own a business, it makes a little profit that they will spend buying a couple of Roberto Cavalli evening dresses and a Jimmy Choo pair of shoes from Aishti.

Furthermore, they will take their friends to lunches and dinners at the place and that is free marketing & PR for the venture.

The French food at Cyrano is basic: the recommended salad of the day was a well presented endive and Roquefort salad. Another good starter is the fresh octopus that comes with a delicious vinegar sauce. As for the main dish, think of it as fish-salmon-entrecote-escalope and grilled potatoes. All this at a cost per person averaging $37, excluding wine bottles.

The strangest thing was the home made olive bread that was full of pips. The restaurant can be very noisy.

US Freezes Shawkat's Assets

2006-01-18T19:55:00.000+02:00

The U.S. Treasury Department just ordered U.S. banks to block any assets found in the U.S. belonging to Assef Shawkat.
The Treasury Department also barred any US citizen from doing business with Shawkat.
The department alleged that Shawkat has played a role in furthering Syria’s “support for terrorism and interference in the sovereignty of Lebanon”.
For the full text please go to http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/js3080.htm

Assad's top ten hit list

2006-01-18T19:13:00.000+02:00

1- Singer: Walid Jumblat / Song: Let's Topple The Regime
2- Marwan Hmade / Who Tried to Blow Me
3- Saad Hariri / True
4- Fares Khashan / Private Investigations
5- Marcel Ghanem / The Ridicule of It All
6- Ali Hmade / Killers
7- Abel Halim Khaddam / Daret El Ayam
8- Elias Attallah / I Hate the President
9- Neyla Moawad / The Sound of My Voice
10- Michel Aoun / It Started with His Word