Decades on, war-scarred Beirut buildings remain

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by dailytimes.com.pk --They are a common sight around Beirut, but their presence barely registers with Lebanese citizens anymore. Nearly 30 years after civil war guns fell silent, dozens of bullet-scarred, shell-pocked buildings are still standing — testimony to a brutal conflict that raged for 15 years and took the lives of 150,000 people. Some are Beirut landmarks, like the iconic Holiday Inn, a hulking, bullet-riddled blue and white building that towers over the capital. The hotel, which opened for business just two years before the war broke out on April 13, 1975, was destroyed early on during battles between rival factions and used as a sniper’s nest. It has stood deserted and untouched since then, its shareholders locked in a dispute over its future. There’s the modernist movie theater that never was, nicknamed locally “The Egg.” Its moldy skeleton stands as a ruin, its future unclear. Like the Holiday Inn, it is a curious attraction for visiting foreigners.

Some are Beirut landmarks, like the iconic Holiday Inn, a hulking, bullet-riddled blue and white building that towers over the capital There are also a few remaining residential buildings located along the former Green Line, which separated the mainly Muslim part of West Beirut from the predominantly Christian part, their ravaged facades a testimony to the horrors witnessed many years ago. They still stand, either because their owners have no money to fix them, or because of disputes over ownership. “Seeing these buildings is like being slapped in the face,” said Sahar Mandour, a Lebanese journalist and a writer. “You’re walking around going about your daily business when suddenly you come face to face with a scene that takes you back to the old days.”

Unlike others who dislike the sight of these buildings and think they should be demolished, Mandour, 42, says it’s important that they stay for the nation’s collective memory, to never forget a war that pitted Palestinians against Lebanese, Christians against Muslims, Christians against Christians and every other combination possible. Israel also stepped in, adding to the destruction. “For a foreigner, it is a destroyed building. For us, it is a painful reminder of the bullets that pierced our bodies, streets and walls,” Mandour says. “I don’t want these buildings to disappear, their mission is not over yet.”

Remarkable moment Pope Francis kisses feet of South Sudan leader

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As a brother, I ask you to remain in peace. I ask you from my heart, let's go forward' At the end of a highly unusual spiritual retreat for the political leaders of warring factions, Pope Francis knelt at the feet of the leaders of South Sudan, begging them to give peace a chance and to be worthy “fathers of the nation.” “As a brother, I ask you to remain in peace. I ask you from my heart, let’s go forward. There will be many problems, but do not be afraid,” he told the leaders, speaking without a text at the end of the meeting. “You have begun a process, may it end well,” he said. “There will be disagreements among you, but may they take place ‘in the office’ while, in front of your people, you hold hands; in this way, you will be transformed from simple citizens to fathers of the nation.” “The purpose of this retreat is for us to stand together before God and to discern his will,” he said in his formal remarks on April 11, closing the two-day retreat in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse where he lives. The retreat participants included South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and four of the nation’s five designated vice presidents: Riek Machar, James Wani Igga, Taban Deng Gai and Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior. Under the terms of a peace agreement signed in September, the vice presidents were to take office together May 12, sharing power and ending the armed conflict between clans and among communities. The retreat was the idea of Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, who attended the final part of the gathering. He and Pope Francis have been supporting the peace efforts of the South Sudan Council of Churches and, the Pope said again on April 11, they hope to visit South Sudan together when there is peace.

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EU says to work with Lebanon in fight against cyberterrorism

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BEIRUT,(Xinhua) -- EU Ambassador to Lebanon Christina Lassen said on Friday that the EU will actively cooperate with Lebanon in the fight against cyberterrorism, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. "We are currently working with all security agencies in Lebanon to boost their capabilities in fighting against cybercrimes," Lassen said during a conference on cybersecurity. She called upon the Lebanese government to adopt a national cybersecurity strategy to ensure the rule of law in the cyber space. Meanwhile, Lebanese Interior Minister Raya El Hassan said the government will take the needed measures to protect Lebanon's cyber space and information technology infrastructure as well as the personal information of the Lebanese people.

President Pavlopoulos Meets with Lebanese Counterpart Aoun in Beirut

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by thenationalherald.com --Europe has not assumed the obligations it should have assumed in the Middle East war, President Prokopios Pavlopoulos stressed on Thursday during his meeting with the president of Lebanon, General Michel Aoun. “Our great European family has not assumed the part of its responsibilities, based on its history and culture, as far as it regards the war in the Middle East with significant consequences on the people and their fundamental rights,” President Pavlopoulos said.

The Greek president, in Lebanon following an invitation by his counterpart, invited Aoun to visit Greece and referred to bilateral relations between the two countries as “a resounding answer to those who claim that there is a conflict of civilizations.” He added that during these troubled times, there is a lack of communication and mutual understanding between cultures, which is dangerous for their peaceful coexistence. “Our countries and our peoples resist this lack of communication and mutual understanding bravely and decisively.” Regarding outstanding issues in the region including those concerning Lebanon, he said they need to be resolved in a constructive spirit on the basis of the International Law and the decisions of the United Nations. “Such a solution can only be found after the territorial integrity of Lebanon is safeguarded across the breadth and the length of its maritime and land borders, and after respecting the right of all countries in the region, without exceptions, to live in security within their recognised borders, according to international law,” he noted.

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Lebanese textiles factory shuts its doors in dire economy

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Mzannar family’s 300-year-old textile business survived Lebanon’s civil war by making uniforms for militiamen. But its business savvy was no match for years of economic malaise that followed and it has now shut its factory. The head of Lebanon’s chamber of commerce chief said last year nearly 2,200 businesses had closed, warning that more would collapse. And while there is dispute over those numbers, Lebanese mostly agree the economy is in dire shape. For Naji Mzannar, who started working at the fabric factory in the 70s before running it, an array of challenges drove the decline of his business and its inability to compete with cheaper goods from abroad. “It was a build-up. Everything became losses, losses,” he said. “How long are you supposed to keep suffering?”

Built in 1946 and spread over three storeys, the factory made textiles for clothing and household use such as curtains or towels. Mzannar fought to keep it afloat until production came to a halt in 2018. In interviews with Reuters, business owners such as Mzannar, employees, and experts blamed the slowdown on problems including regional turmoil, lousy infrastructure, government waste or corruption, and high interest rates. Whether the new government tries to improve conditions, as it vows urgently to do, the effects of years of political sclerosis and stalled reforms are already inescapable: more companies going out of business and workers losing jobs.

The government publishes few reliable economic statistics, and gives no regular unemployment numbers, but last year Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said it stood at about 30 percent. With pillars such as tourism and real estate in the doldrums, economic growth has averaged 1-2 percent since the conflict erupted in neighboring Syria in 2011, after averaging 8-9 percent growth in the years before that. “There is a deterioration. There is a rise in companies closing down and in unemployment. For sure, they come together,” said former economy minister Raed Khoury.

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Carlos Ghosn’s wife to appeal to French government for intervention

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by reuters -- Tokyo — The wife of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has left Japan and flown to Paris to appeal to the French government to do more to help him, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Japanese prosecutors arrested Ghosn for a fourth time on Thursday on suspicion he had tried to enrich himself at the carmaker’s expense, in another dramatic twist his lawyers said was an attempt to muzzle him. “I think the French government should do more for him. I don’t think he’s had enough support and he’s calling for assistance. As a French citizen, it should be a right”, Carole Ghosn told the Financial Times in an interview before boarding a flight out of Japan late on Friday.

She said her husband’s previous 108-day imprisonment had left him “a different person” and that normal life under bail conditions had been impossible. “You could see the fear in his eyes,” as rumours of his rearrest spread last week, she was quoted as saying. Ghosn, who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship, has denied charges against him and called on the French government for help. Tokyo prosecutors, Ghosn’s lawyer and his spokesperson were not immediately available for comment.

Public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday that prosecutors suspect Ghosn siphoned off part of the payments through a company where his wife is an executive to buy a yacht and a boat. The prosecutors asked Carole Ghosn to meet them for voluntary questioning as an unsworn witness, but the request was turned down, which prompted them to ask judges to question her on their behalf, the broadcaster said. Such a request gives judges the power to question, on a mandatory basis, witnesses who refuse to testify, according to NHK. Ghosn’s lead lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, said on Thursday prosecutors confiscated Ghosn’s mobile phone, documents, notebooks and diaries, along with his wife’s passport and mobile phone.

Dawn raid

The Financial Times said prosecutors had confiscated his wife’s Lebanese passport in a dawn raid on their apartment in central Tokyo on Thursday morning, but did not discover her US passport. “I’m all alone here. It’s traumatising what happened,” she was quoted as saying while awaiting her flight. “If my husband is in detention and I’m here, I won’t be useful. I’m going to France … and be more useful where I can be.” Under Japanese law, prosecutors will be able to hold Ghosn for up to 22 days without charging him.

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