Scandalous claims of corruption at the highest levels of Lebanon

Beirut: Although rumours about a possible scandal that involved the former president of Lebanon, the prime minister and the minister of the interior, circulated for several weeks, alkalimaonline carried a dynamite signed story on June 13 [http://www.alkalimaonline.com/article.php?id=243482] that made extremely strong claims of corruption against the three officials.

According to Janine Malah, a respected journalist, 644 foreigners were granted Lebanese citizenship through a special presidential decree signed by President Michel Suleiman just before he left office.

Alkalimaonline published key documents that carried all of the names of those concerned that, apparently included at least 150 Syrians, led by the former pro-regime Governor of Homs. In addition to their names, the site provided the nationalities of those who received citizenships, which further revealed their national origins.

Presidential decrees were nothing unusual and occurred in most nation-states. In this instance, and because the signed order was not published in the Official Gazette — itself not an unusual development as similar items were often left off the books — what was intriguing was the online site’s claims that the three signatories received kickbacks.

Although no figures were published, various inquiries about the deal with well-connected journalists and reliable political sources alleged that Sulaiman, Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Minister of the Interior Nouhad Al Mashnouq signed off in exchange for $1 million for each of the 644 recipients on condition that the monies so gathered go to refurbish various prisons, including the overcrowded facility at Roumie.

Consequently, grantees presumably deposited their citizenship fees — assuming it was in fact $1 million for each of the 644 — with the Central Bank. Beyond such a transaction, however, allegations circulated in town that the interior minister asked for and received $100,000 per signature — in cash — though this could not be independently verified. There was no information as to how much the president or prime minister may have received, if anything, which was uncharacteristic since all three men were known for being clean. Still, and assuming that each of the three received similar sums, a little over $1.9 were paid as “makrama” [gifts] out of the putative $644 million, though it was unclear whether the $1.9 came from the same pot, if at all.