Military

DATE=11/08/2004

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=LEBANON/RECONSTRUCTION

NUMBER=5-56112

BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

/// This is a first in a series of backgrounders on Lebanon. This is a re-issue. ///

HEADLINE: Lebanon's Reconstruction Still a Work in Progress

INTRO: Fifteen years after the end of its civil war, Lebanon is pushing forward with ambitious programs to rebuild a nation torn by more than 15 years of sectarian strife, an Israeli invasion and 20-year occupation of its border area. Beirut's luxurious new city center that has risen from the rubble of war has come to symbolize the country's rebirth. But it also sparks complaints of mismanagement, corruption and a neglect of basic services for the rest of the country. Correspondent Laurie Kassman has this report from the Lebanese capital.

TEXT: /// CONSTRUCTION SOUNDS AND FADE ///

Sounds of construction fill the air. The sleek new city center symbolizes how far Lebanon has come from the days of destruction and despair.

Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares:

///FARES ACT ///

"We have come out of a shattering war. For 15 to 20 years, the whole country was shattered completely. We have depended totally on our own selves to rebuild. This entailed some burdens on our finances. We have high level of debt."

/// END ACT///

In fact, the country of four-million inhabitants faces a national debt of nearly 35-billion dollars. Some say rebuilding Lebanon has cost the country in other ways, too.

Nayla Moawad is a member of Parliament, whose husband was assassinated 17 days after being elected president of Lebanon following the civil war. She says too much money has been spent on luxury buildings, and not enough on education, health and the environment.

/// MOAWAD ACT ///

"You should build the human being before the stones. Of course, you have to do both, but we shouldn't have neglected the building of the human being, first of all in the education programs. Schools have been given a very, very tiny part of the reconstruction."

///END ACT ///

The over-crowded, war-pocked tenements of Beirut's mostly Shi'ite Muslim neighborhoods and southern villages underscore how far Lebanon's recovery program still has to go.

Economist Kamal Hamdan says the middle class is being squeezed out and young university graduates forced to leave the country to find jobs.

/// HAMDAN ACT ///

"For the middle and upper middle class, more than 60 percent of their graduates are searching for work abroad. And a major factor is economic. The level of wages, the level of income, the safety nets available, the feeling that there is potential, incentives -- all these are lacking for the new middle and upper middle graduate population."

/// END ACT ///

///START OPT ///Politicians like Druze leader Walid Jumblatt complain about corruption and mismanagement, which discourage young Lebanese anxious to join the economy.

/// JUMBLATT ACT ///

"It's a question of political confidence, because he needs hope for the future. If he feels there is no hope for the future, he will just leave."

/// END ACT ///

///END OPT ///

Many university students preparing to graduate in a few months echo that disillusionment.

/// STUDENT VOX POPS ///

"I don't want to leave, but I think I have to leave, if the situation stays like this, the economic situation and the political situation ... I love Lebanon. I would like to live here and work here. But you can feel there is something missing. I don't know what it is. ... If there's work that's available and the salary is good, I'll stay here. If not, I'll work outside. ...

///END ACT ///

/// START OPT ///

Magda Abu Fadil directs the Institute for Professional Journalists at Beirut's Lebanese American University. She worries about the so-called brain drain, and blames what she sees as government mismanagement.

///ABU FADIL ACT ///

"People are fed up, and want better solutions. There has to be a quantum leap to transparency, to the elimination of corruption, to doing away with nepotism and feudal mentality. All these things still exist with a modern veneer."

///END ACT ///

///END OPT ///

Economist Hamdan says a lot of Lebanon's rehabilitation depends on developments beyond its border and its control. He cites the turmoil in Iraq and the never-ending Israeli-Arab conflict.

/// HAMDAN ACT 2 ///

" We have the indirect losses pertaining to the consequences of the conflict on the overall regional economy, which is not permitting the integration of the whole area into one single common market where the people of the region, without exception, can benefit and live together."

/// END ACT ///

Despite the grumblings, political analyst Sami Baroudi says, the physical reconstruction of central Beirut has provided an important symbol for the war-torn nation.

///BAROUDI ACT ///

"When we see all the signs of destruction removed from the heart of Beirut, we associate that with the rebirth of the capital and the rebirth of Lebanon.

/// END ACT ///

Lebanon's rebirth has also become a key source of much-needed revenue. A country once synonymous with war and terror is now experiencing a boom in tourism. An aggressive multimillion-dollar campaign is promoting Lebanon's beaches, mountain resorts and archeological sites to bury memories of its turbulent past.

And Beirut, once dubbed the Paris of the Middle East, again finds its outdoor cafes, trendy nightclubs, temperate climate and liberal lifestyle attracting Western tourists and wealthy Arab investors, willing to bet on Lebanon's future. (SIGNED)

NEB/LMK/KBK/MEM