Hariri-Berri Quarrel Eases Up

A fierce quarrel erupted between Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri last month over the issue of civil service appointments, underscoring the continuing centrality of clientalism to the Lebanese political process.

Although the speaker and prime minister had ostensibly agreed to base the latest round of civil service appointments on merit, rather than political patronage, shortly after Christmas Berri attacked Hariri for refusing to allow the appointment of one of his political protégés to head the National Social Security Fund. After Hariri told a reporter on December 27 that the person to be appointed to this post "is supposed to be pro-government," Berri called a press conference and called the prime minister a modern-day Louis XIV who "thinks he is the state." Hariri then challenged Berri to table a no-confidence motion in parliament. Escalating verbal exchanges between the two politicians over this and a number of other issues, such as budget allocations for the Council for the South, continued for the next two weeks.

As is often the case with "internal" Lebanese disputes, however, the hand of Syria played a role in both the genesis and resolution of the confrontation. As a number of Lebanese commentators noted, Berri launched the confrontation with Hariri shortly after visiting Damascus, which led him to believe that he had Syrian backing to press Hariri on the civil service appointments. Afterwards, Hariri met a number of times with the head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon, Maj. Gen. Ghazi Kanaan, to explain his position. After several rounds of Syrian mediation, the two appear to have reconciled for the time being.

Hezbollah Linked to Intercepted PA Arms Shipment

According to Israeli investigators, the Shi'ite Lebanese Hezbollah movement helped organize the shipment of Iranian arms to the Palestinian Authority (PA) that was intercepted by Israeli commandos in the Red Sea on January 6. A Palestinian diver on the ship told interrogators that he was trained in Lebanon by Hezbollah to operate the Iranian-manufactured watertight plastic cylinders used to store the weapons and that a Hezbollah operative boarded the ship to check the cylinders prior to its departure from Iran. The ship, Karine A, was bought in Lebanon by Adel Mughrabi, a major arms broker for the PA.

Hezbollah Linked to Congo Diamond Trade

According to a December 30 Washington Post article, Hezbollah and other radical Islamist groups have become deeply involved in the diamond trade in Congo, buying the gems at a fraction of their market price and selling them abroad. According to European diamond dealers and intelligence officials, Hezbollah and other Islamist groups have used extortion and intimidation of other dealers to muscle their way into the trade. The report said that the gems are often sold in relatively unregulated diamond markets in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius and India.

The article also noted that Hezbollah and Al-Qa'ida have been linked to the same dealers. "We see some overlap among the dealers we believe worked with both groups," said one European investigator.

More Violence in Ain al-Hilweh

Lebanese television reported on December 29 that a garbage collector was killed by an explosive charge near a rubbish container in the outskirts of Ain al-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. Yousuf al-Batsh was killed by the bomb, placed in a plastic bag, as he was cleaning a street in the Al-Ta'mir area.

On the morning of January 2, a bomb exploded in the commercial district of the camp, shattering the windows of a home appliance store owned by Sheikh Arsan Sleiman, an official of the pro-Syrian Association for Islamic Welfare Projects, commonly known as Al-Ahbash.

Authorities Seize DVD Movies Starring Pro-Israeli Actors

Dozens of plainclothes agents from the General Security Directorate (Sureté Générale), which operates in close coordination with Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, stormed a Virgin Megastore outlet in Beirut on January 6 and seized 650 DVDs on the grounds that they "that slandered religion and public decency and contravened the ban against Israel." According to local press reports, the confiscated contraband included all of the store's movies starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, who are known to be supporters of Israel. Also confiscated from the store, which opened amid much fanfare last July, were religious titles apparently deemed to have cast Jews in a positive light, such as The Ten Commandments, Jesus of Nazareth, and Ben Hurr (none of which can be said to have slandered Islam since they were set in pre-Islamic times). The following day, the Beirut-based Daily Star wrote that "the Virgin fiasco is bound to discourage potential investors."

Court Rejects Move to Halt Case against Pakradouni

On January 23 the Beirut Appeals Court rejected a motion by the Beirut Bar Association to halt legal proceedings against Phalange Party President Karim Pakradouni on charges of visiting Israel in 1986, a capital offense under Lebanese law. The case against Pakradouni has been in limbo since it was opened in 1999, allowing the government to hold the threat of prosecution over his head indefinitely and secure his continued cooperation with the Syrians.

Attempt to Assassinate Lahoud Reported

The London-based daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported on December 31 that Lebanese President Emile Lahoud escaped an assassination attempt on December 28 while vacationing on a private yacht off the coast of Monte Carlo. The paper cited "informed sources" for the report, but did not give any details of the assassination attempt. Lebanese officials said the report was "baseless."

Another Syrian Worker in Lebanon Killed

The local media reported on January 7 that the body of a 31-year-old Syrian worker was found in the village of Maghdousheh near Sidon. Police said that the victim and his two guard dogs had been shot at close range by a hunting rifle. The murder brings to seven the number of Syrian workers in Lebanon who have been killed in recent months, mostly in the impoverished South. An estimated 1.4 million Syrian workers reside in Lebanon, contributing to the country's soaring unemployment rate.