Blimp Down ... (by M14 'hawk')

I bet the author changed his MURR tune since then (2004') .....On the Murrs, Pere & Fils, by the March 14 hawk, Ziad Abdel Nour, here

"........As interior minister, Murr was in charge of domestic security and intelligence agencies, giving him an unparalleled capacity to threaten and intimidate other public figures in Lebanon. Arrogant and overbearing, he made many enemies. If a referendum were held, former MP Rushayd al-Khazen once noted, "we would see that nobody likes Michel Murr - not even his supporters, who first and foremost are afraid of him." The Interior Ministry also offered Murr a variety of lucrative opportunities to expand his fortune and build a political base of support. Since most types of commercial and residential construction in Lebanon require a permit from the Interior Ministry, these licenses could be easily bartered for bribes or political support at election time. In addition, Murr had extensive interests in rock quarries in the Metn district and used his ministry to restrict the issuing of licenses to competitors. During the 1990s, these quarries flourished as Lebanon underwent a major reconstruction boom. Not surprisingly, there were no government regulations obliging quarry owners to rehabilitate depleted sites and laws requiring operators to inform the government of the discovery of water supplies were not enforced. The result was immense environmental destruction and the burial of springs.

Since Lebanese elections are run by the Interior Ministry, Murr had a great deal of power to compromise the integrity of the electoral process in a given district. Internal security forces illegally entered polling stations during the 1996 and 2000 parliamentary elections, so as to observe whether those who had sold their votes cast them accordingly (voters in Lebanon are not required to close the voting booth curtain when making their choice - and those who have sold their votes typically don't). Murr simultaneously served as minister of municipal and rural affairs, a position that allowed him to barter vital government services for political support at election time (so joined at the hip were these two ministries under Murr's control that they were later integrated into the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities).

One of the greatest perks of the Interior Ministry was that it was empowered to review the files of around 300,000 non-Lebanese, mostly Syrians, who were naturalized under a controversial 1994 decree. Many of these newly naturalized citizens were forced by the Interior Ministry to register for electoral purposes in Murr's district of northern Metn. During the 1996 and 2000 parliamentary elections, these newly naturalized citizens were bussed by Murr to the polls to vote en masse for his electoral slate. Murr's periodic remarks that his ministry was investigating cases of people who were granted citizenship "by mistake" ensured that these hapless souls did not disappoint him on election day.

Thus, in his home district of north Metn, Murr's control of electoral outcomes was virtually absolute - his electoral slate won all but one parliamentary seat in north Metn in 1996. When Murr's daughter, Myrna, ran for municipal office in their hometown of Bteghrine in 1998, nobody dared run against her.

Like most other well-connected Lebanese elites, Murr brought Syrian partners into his business deals, building a strong base of support within Syria's military-intelligence apparatus. However, unlike Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who favored particular figures in Syria (e.g. former Chief of Staff Hikmat Shihabi and Vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam), Murr spread his largesse to many different personalities. When Shihabi and Khaddam were later marginalized by Syrian dictator Hafez Assad's son and heir, Bashar, Hariri paid a political price for putting so many of his eggs in so few baskets.

In any event, the Syrians wanted Hariri to return to office and salvage Lebanon's moribund economy - and Hariri demanded Murr's ouster from the Interior Ministry. Interestingly, the consensus choice for his replacement was his son, Elias - a much more likeable fellow than his father. However, Murr's supremacy as the political boss of north Metn would be challenged from an unlikely quarter.

Elias Murr continues to follow in his father's footsteps. Last month, Deputy Parliament Speaker Elie Ferzli accused the Interior Ministry of illegal contracting that squandered millions of dollars in state funds. According to Ferzli, the ministry signed a contract with a Saudi-Belgian conglomerate to construct facilities for testing car roadworthiness, despite receiving better offers in a public tender. The company, which Ferzli said was "backed by powerful figures," was also given the free use of public lands to build the facilities, despite the fact that it's build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract obliged it to assume these expenses. Public Works and Transport Minister Najib Mikati subsequently revealed that property belonging to his ministry in the northern port of Tripoli had been confiscated for this purpose without his knowledge."

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