From the new World Media Watch up now at
http://www.zianet.com/insightanalyticalTomorrow at Buzzflash.com
1//Lebanonwire.com, Lebanon February 15, 2005
http://www.lebanonwire.com/0502/05021519AFP.asp HARIRI MURDER TRIGGERS FEARS OF ECONOMIC MELTDOWN IN LEBANON
by Henri Mamarbachi
BEIRUT, Feb 15 (AFP) - The killing of five-time prime minister Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon's richest man and the father of its post-war reconstruction, raised fears of a new crisis in an economy already teetering under a mountain of debt.
The assassination shattered in an instant the picture of a safe and secure modern Lebanon, carefully crafted by the billionaire banker, construction magnate and wily politician in the aftermath of the 1975-90 civil war. Not only could his killing dry up foreign investment, but pressure on the local markets could also force the central bank to dig deep into its 10 billion dollar reserves to safeguard the Lebanese pound.
"This type of tragedy does nothing but set back the cause of peace and social justice in Lebanon and in the region," World Bank President James Wolfensohn said.
"There are reasons to be concerned, but we have to wait and see what happens in the next few days," one Lebanese businessman said.
The son of a farm hand, Hariri rose to become one of the world's 100 richest people with an estimated wealth of around 10 billion dollars -- more than half Lebanon's estimated 17 billion dollar gross domestic product.
Admired by financiers at home and abroad, and close to the mega-wealthy Saudi royal family, Hariri was banking, real estate, oil, industry and telecommunications giant in Lebanon, the Gulf and the West.
However, his detractors said he was a spendthrift, whose corrupt administration dragged an already feeble economy deeper into debt and used sky-high interest rates to stabilise the pound.
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