Rabee Jaber - The Mehlis Report

“And Saad Hariri, Rafik Hariri’s son, the head of the largest parliamentary bloc since the assassination, continues to move from one major world capital to another as he awaits the publication of the Mehlis Report. The absence of all of these figures of Lebanon has added to the citizens’ apprehensions.

“But the bustle of construction sites downtown will certainly catch the eye of any foreigner passing through Beirut these days, especially in the part of the city stretching from Rue Weygand and Allenby Street toward the Phoenicia and Saint Georges hotels: this forms the western section of Solidere’s project to rebuild downtown Beirut, which was destroyed by the war. Massive yellow cranes cover the sky here, and tourists are amazed at how much construction has been carried out over the past few months despite the explosions and the prevailing state of anxiety and fear. This construction activity is linked to the recent rise in oil prices and new investments from the Persian Gulf in downtown Beirut.

“Yukio Yomiuri, a businessman from Tokyo visiting Beirut for the first time, said he went up in the tethered Sky Gate hot air balloon and was surprised by the number of high-rises currently sprouting up all along the shoreline, from the commercial heart of downtown to the Ain al-Mreisseh district. Anyone passing through that part of town can count dozens of massive construction sites, and can envision the area’s transformation in the coming months by looking at the large illustrations hanging around the construction sites. Those illustrations also bear the new buildings’ names: Platinum Tower, Beirut Tower, Marina Tower, Two Park Avenue, 1330 Park Avenue, The Four Seasons, the Beirut Hilton. These giant buildings and five-star hotels are all part of Rafik Hariri’s dream to transform the city into the business capital of the Middle East in the next few years. One end of those seafront projects is located across from the Normandy Landfill, which, since 1999, has been undergoing clean-up treatments with the aim of turning it into a public park. Solidere has taken over the project, which was supposed to have been completed by October 2003, according to the steel placard hanging at the entrance to the landfill.

“Jack Matta, an engineer for the seafront towers, assured us that the projects have not been delayed, and that the years 2006 and 2007 would mark Beirut’s renaissance, with the completion of the new yacht harbor finally opening the Mediterranean city onto the sea and the world.

“The engineer Walid Ghulam said that thousands of people have been working around the clock for months to complete all tasks on time. And truckloads of workers with helmets can in fact be seen fastening together iron bars, operating cement mixers, and mounting panes of glass. The high-rises will combine apartments, offices, and restaurants.

“Even as red curtains flutter from the rows of wrecked windows at the Saint Georges Hotel where the explosion that killed Hariri took place, cloth ribbons dance on the new titanium bars holding panes of glass in place at the Marina Tower; and as this opulent blue-glass building rises up above the pink Monroe Hotel and the sea beyond it, trucks loaded with yellow sand continue to flow in to fill up the massive hole caused by the February 14th explosion.

“Meanwhile the Netzeitung website, citing sources close to the international investigation commission, has related important details about the last minutes of former Prime Minister Hariri’s life:

“On Monday, February 14th at midday — a day with calm seas and clear winter skies — at precisely ten minutes to one o’clock (12:50 pm), the former Prime Minister left the Étoile restaurant across from the Parliament Building and gave the head of his motorcade directions: they were to take Hussein al-Ahdab Street, then cut across Rue Weygand to Foch Street, and take that to the corniche.

“Hariri drove his armored car himself, accompanied by Basil Fuleihan, a Member of Parliament. The car was custom-made and could not be damaged by RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launchers. According to international experts from Mehlis’s team, Hariri’s car rarely had any mechanical problems.

“The second, fourth, and fifth cars were all black Mercedes with three bodyguards in each one, and the cars were equipped with state-of-the-art devices that could cut off all radio and cell phone transmissions in the immediate vicinity of the moving motorcade (a system that cost over 300,000 dollars).

“The last of the six vehicles in the motorcade was an ambulance — the former Prime Minister always wanted doctors present in case they were needed.

“At 12:56 Hariri’s motorcade passed by the Monroe Hotel and through the Mina al-Hosn district, picking up speed as it approached the Saint Georges Hotel, the best spot to carry out the assassination.

“Less than thirty seconds later, the explosion occurred, shaking the city. The doctors ascertained that Rafik Hariri’s death resulted from massive brain damage.

“Six and a half minutes from Parliament Square to the site of the explosion. Those minutes are currently running through the mind of the international prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who is also focusing on calls made on six cell phones in the above-mentioned area shortly before the explosion — cell phones that were all turned off and thrown away after the explosion. In those six and a half minutes, as the motorcade was passing between the construction sites, the crime was carried out.”

From Sunday, October 16th, to Wednesday, October 19th, Saman and Cecilia meet up early each evening and stay together until after midnight. Things have calmed down a bit at Monoprix, and Cecilia has been heading to work early and leaving between six and seven in the evening, as the sky is darkening and the streetlamps begin to light up Beirut. On Sunday night they cook green beans with olive oil. Saman sauteés some chopped onions and garlic in a saucepan. She chops a tomato on a wood cutting board. The smell of frying fills the kitchen. Cecilia laughs and says: I spend all day cooking only to come home and start cooking again. And we only eat half of what we make. Less than half. Today I cooked mujaddara , and made stuffed grape leaves and trays of baked kibbeh . And now we’re cooking green beans with olive oil.

Saman says he didn’t know they tore down the building across from the Aoun Supermarket. When did they tear it down?

Just two or three days ago, Cecilia says.

Saman says that when he passed in front of the Wakeem restaurant, the old women weren’t playing Scrabble inside like they usually do. They were all sitting at tables outside instead, with the letters in front of them; and beside the game they had small ceramic plates filled with brown cookies.

Cecilia says the whole city is acting differently these days.

Saman says there’s more space there now that they’ve removed the building and the big tree.

I don’t remember a tree, Cecilia replies.

I’m not talking about the building across from the Aoun, Saman says, I’m talking about the other one, across from the Wakeem, by the garbage bins. Don’t you remember the giant tree that covered the sidewalk and street?

Watch the onions, Cecilia replies. We don’t want them browned.

She stirs the beans into the saucepan and sprinkles a spoonful of salt on them. Now we have to fry up the beans, she says. Then add the tomatoes and a spoon of tomato paste and leave it on the burner to cook. Isn’t this dish easy?

That’s it? Saman asks. We’re done?

We’re done, says Cecilia. The stove will do the rest.

The place is warm. The overhead light reflects off the kitchen sink, and the sound of the television comes in from the living room. An uncorked bottle of white wine is on the table, as are two glasses and a plate of white cheese. Cecilia puts a cover on the saucepan and turns down the flame a bit. Saman pours some more wine into the glasses. The wind suddenly blows in through the window, and rain starts to fall.