The assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri by a massive car-bomb in downtown Beirut has rattled the Middle East. Hariri (the namesake of Boston University's School of Management campus center) was a larger-than-life figure who straddled many scenes in the region, holding court in both stern Saudi Arabia and libertine Lebanon.
The old saying is that in the West people make money to go into politics, whereas in the Middle East people go into politics to make money. Indeed, the graft game drives most of Middle Eastern despots. But Hariri bucked that trend, making billions before entering Lebanese politics (not that his building company didn't benefit handsomely from his political power during the re-vamping of Beirut).
The Middle Eastern blogsphere is awash with comments on Hariri and the implications of his assassination. Here's a sample:
The Damascene blog recounts how Valentine's Day in Syria was shattered by the news: "Everybody was rushing back home to call friends and relatives in Beirut
and to watch scenes of destruction in Beirut's beautiful Cornische, an
area many Syrians know very well."- Natasha, a Jordanian blogging from Qatar, declares herself "Enraged" (and many who comment on her post agree): "I'm so sick of this whole region. Mere words cannot convey my frustration. It is endless chaos."
- SandMonkey similarly finds his Valentine's Day ruined by the news and cautions against wild conspiracy theories: "If living in the middle-east has taught me anything it's that things are never that complicated. Any story that involves an explanation longer then 2 sentences is probably bullshit or an excuse..."
- Syria Comment reports from Damascus that many of his own relatives were at first blaming Israel, but then began to fear that Bashar Assad has lost control of his security forces: "There is great worry here and nervousness."
- Sandbox recalls the bio-pic study of Hariri by Syrian director Omar Amiralay (the creative force behind the recent - and daring - mock-u-mentary "10 Reasons Why I Hate the Ba'ath Party") called The Man with the Soles of Gold.
- Amarji, in a most fascinating post mixing the personal and the political news of the day, declares "Infelix Vates."
- Digressing finds a photo of the smoldering remains of Hariri's motorcade.
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