by middleeastmonitor.com — The US is working on building a new regional hub for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Lebanon, within a huge embassy complex with an area of 93,000 square meters on a 27-hectares (about 64 acres) site in the capital, Beirut, intelligence sources reported yesterday. The complex, which is estimated to cost $1 billion, will also include an arts centre, a hospital, a swimming pool, residential towers and a data collection centre, according to the French Intelligence Online website. The sources added that the US intelligence sees Lebanon as a safe and strategic location for the deployment of intelligence agents. Washington also intends to benefit from its excellent intelligence partnership with the Lebanese army’s B2 military intelligence unit, according to the sources. The French website learned that US funding for the Lebanese army includes a guarantee that allows the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) unlimited access to its intelligence information.