Rafik Hariri’s assassination hits Lebanon tourism
From Majdoline Hatoum (Our correspondent)

18 February 2005
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s tourism industry will be the main sector affected by the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri on Monday, according to specialised observers.
According to economic experts, and those who work in the hotel industry, tourists will either cancel their reservations or amend their vacations’ plan in Lebanon. “We have already had people from the Gulf cancelling their reservations,” said Roula, who wished her last name to remain anonymous, in fear of being penalised.
Roula, who works at a reputable, waterfront hotel, (which was damaged by Monday’s explosion), said that even tourists from within the hotel checked out, “for fear of their lives.”
She added that Arab tourists and foreigners “do not understand that Hariri’s assassination is just a phase and not a new war breaking out. They want to feel safe, and that is why they are getting as much away from any speculated danger.”
Youssef Hussein, an elderly man who was checking Ain El Mreisseh seafront area where Hariri was assassinated, told Khaleej Times on Tuesday that people “should be afraid because what happened on Monday warns of a new civil war.”
Hussein, who was a young man when the Lebanese civil war of 1975 broke out, said, “It all started like this, officials being assassinated, and people rioting. I just hope that the Lebanese are sane enough not to fall for their anger and act like they did back in the 1970s.
"It is the ghost of war which will never stop haunting Beirut,” he added.
Walking through Ain El-Mreisseh, one cannot but help feel bad, afraid and angry of all the destruction. All hell broke loose at 12.45 on Monday noon, when a massive explosion took place at Ain El-Mreisseh. I was two minutes away from the blast site when the bomb exploded; and as a reporter, my first reflex was rushing down the sea road towards the poles of smoke to see what happened. People were running everywhere screaming, and some of them were saying that Hariri died. The InterContinental Phoenicia and Monroe hotels’ glass fronts were shattered by the explosion’s pressure, while Saint Georges Yacht Club’s building was falling apart.
Three Hotels were damaged in one way or another, while the street ceased to exist with at least a 7 metre hole in its middle, and glass from nearby buildings scattered everywhere. “It is really devastating,” said 30-year-old Manal Hamad. “I passed the same place where the explosion occurred on Monday at 11 in the morning,” she said, adding that if it were not for God’s grace “I would have died in the blast, (which happened at around 12.45 noon).
“Coming back here after the hideous crime, I could not recognise the street or what is left of it,” she added. Israel, Syria, Lebanese intelligence with Syrian aid, and foreign hands, all were blamed for the explosion which claimed the lives of at least 10 people, including Hariri, and injured more than 30, some of which are still in a critical situation. “It is the Syrians,” accused Aline, who had a friend rushed to the hospital because of the blast.
“They control everything and they surely know who did it if it weren’t them,” she added. Salim El-Hallabi on the other hand, accused Israeli hands of being behind the assassination. “They hate us. They do not wish to see Lebanon revived and doing well,” he added.
According to him, “Israel is the only one benefiting from a damaged tourism sector and rocking economy in Lebanon. This is what will happen after Hariri is gone.”
Beirut MP Bassel Fleihan, who was with Hariri's convoy when the explosion took place, was rushed to hospital suffering from 2nd and 3rd degree burns all over his body. He was later transported to France on Monday night for urgent medical treatment, as some medics said that his condition was “serious.” Sources in the American University Hospital (AUH), who spoke on condition of anonymity, informed that Fleihan was currently in a “critical condition” and his situation required “special treatment.”
The rumours of former minister Samir Jisr’s death were later rebuffed through Jisr himself when he called one of the local television stations, shortly after the incident. Jisr, 61, has held several ministerial positions in former governments led by Hariri. Among the cases he held were Energy and Water, Education, and Justice. Hariri had had a coffee break with both Jisr and Fleihan at a downtown café, (Place de l’Etoile), before heading away from the parliament, where the parliamentary blocs were discussing the new electoral law-project. Jisr had left Hariri and Fleihan’s convoy before they were subject to the blast. Fleihan, also a former minister, is a member of Hariri’s parliamentary bloc “Dignity bloc.” AFP had mentioned earlier on Monday that France has sent a private plane to transport the injured MP for treatment in Paris; and that Fleihan's wife, who was in Geneva, said she had received a phone call saying her husband had been taken to hospital but had no immediate word on his condition.