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Established to promote a lasting peace between Lebanon, Israel, and Syria. |
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CASE BACKGROUND 1. Abstract An Italian firm, Jelly Wax, allegedly shipped over 2,400 tones of chemical wastes to Lebanon between September, 1987 and June, 1988 through ports outside Lebanese government control. On June 5, 1988, barrels of Italian hazardous wastes were discovered on the Kesrouan shore, north of Beirut . Soon barrels that had been dumped at sea were discovered by fishermen in the southern port of Tyre , to the south of Beirut . An additional 2,411 tones of wastes were discovered in East Beirut and Ghazir, 25 kilometers north of Beirut . After initial government inability to force Rome to remove the wastes, threats by Lebanese terrorist organizations led to Italian clean-up efforts. 2. Description On June 5, 1988, barrels of Italian wastes were discovered on the Kerswan shore, East Beirut and Ghazir. A Lebanese scientist was hospitalized after he fell ill while inspecting some of the barrels of waste. "We are facing a new kind of war," said one Lebanese citizen. "Maybe we can avoid shells and bullets. But how can we avoid pollution?" The wastes in East Beirut and Ghazir had been unloaded by the Radhost, a waste trading vessel, in mid-May. The Radhost, owned by the Czechoslovakia Ocean Shipping Company, attempted to deliver these wastes to Venezuela in late 1987. According to a Christian Lebanese television station, Lebanese businessman named Roger Haddad had demanded $500,000 in U.S. dollars for taking the wastes from Jelly Wax. The Italian ambassador Antonio Mancini later met with Lebanese Acting Prime Minister Salim Hoss in June to negotiate an agreement to remove the wastes. Italy offered to pay $3 million in U.S. Dollars toward the clean up costs, but Lebanon demanded that Italy pay the entire cost. Senior Lebanese officials encouraged Hoss to recall the Lebanese ambassador from Rome or to freeze diplomatic ties with Italy to pressure Italy to fund the entire clean up. Hoss did neither. On June 23, 1988 an anonymous caller from the "Organization of Preserving the Lebanese Right" threatened to physically attack Italian interests in Lebanon unless the Italian government removed the wastes within one week. The threat of terrorist reprisal did spur the Italian government to action, in contrast to the ineffectual efforts of the government of Lebanon . Two vessels, the Vorais Sporiades (formerly the Jumbo Trust) and the Yvonne/A, reloaded the wastes in July and August 1988, but were still in Lebanese waters in early November. They remained at anchor, awaiting Italian government orders to return to Italy . On December 15, 1988, the Italian government announced that the waste would be shipped to the Italian port of La Spezia. The mayor of La Spezia agreed to this, provided the wastes were identified and the stay in port was limited. In March, 1989, the Lebanese delegate to the Basel Convention, Dr. Milad Jarjouhi, reported on imports of Italian waste. A total of 16,000 barrels and numerous other containers of chemical wastes were, Jarjouhi claimed, delivered as raw materials and recycling goods to numerous Lebanese companies by "Italian Mafia-dealers," who, it was discovered, had simply left the wastes or had shipped it into the mountains. He showed photographs of children who suffered from cauterized patches of skin. He also said that there were still 9,000 barrels "lost in the mountains." Pierre Malychef was commissioned in 1987 to run an inquiry into the Italian dumping and nearly died from an assasin's bullet. He believes that the Italian company paid between $12 and $22 million for disposal. The manifest on the shipment described it as "raw material for industry and agriculture." In 1994, Malychef was asked to look into such imports once again. Lebanon has demands that Italy pay to take back the waste and to decontaminate the landfills, but Italy refuses, threatening to halt reconstruction assistance. Belgium was forced to repatriate crushed plastics mixed with chemicals that it had exported for disposal in Lebanon . In January, 1998, OECD countries agreed not to export waste outside of OECD, even when it can be used as a raw material for another industry.
SAMIR GEAGEA: THE SECURITY OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY ABOVE ALL INTERESTS: part 2 IT SURE IS : The ship “Rod Host” entered Lebanon the morning of September 21st 1987, with a Czechoslovakian flag on behalf of a Lebanese Company by the name of “Adonis Engineering” carrying tons of deadly toxin waste. The “Adonis Engineering” company was a “faked secondary company” working as an upfront for the prime “Nassar Trading Co” owned by Armand Nassar, a Lebanese citizen in good relation with Syrian Generals Ghazi Kanaan and Rustom Ghazali heads of Syrian Military Intelligence in Lebanon then. The Italian Company “akolife” wanted to get away the toxin debris and applied the duty to do so to an Italian Firm by the name of Jelly Wax with his Italian director then “Renato Bent” with an address in Italy at 19-21-200090 Opera Via Romaya . Jelly Wax tried unsuccessfully to ship the Toxins to Venezuela , it failed. After this attempt It contacted “Yoorob Kanaan” , the son of Syrian General Ghazi Kanaan , trying to ship the material with “Jamal Khaddam”, the son of Abdel Halim Khaddam, Vice President of Syria then to Syria and dump it in the Syrian desert . Indeed, they started the proceedings, the ship downloaded the toxin material off the port of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon, few big sized trucks started to transport the toxin to an area in the Syrian Desert called “Tamar” , in proximity of another desertic area known by “Jazeera” where the Kurds lives .The trucks dumped few toxin loads there, not for very long, until the Syrian command stopped & cancelled the operation . Syrian General Rustom Ghazali , a Syrian Intelligence officer of liaison then contact Druze leader Walid Jumblatt then for the issue . Jumblatt firmly closed the door to General Ghazali on the issue and told him do whatever you want with it; I don’t have room in the Druze mountains for such a thing. General Ghazali contacts Nader Succar, the number 2 in command under Samir Geagea along with Georges Antoun in charge of the Treasury Department of the Lebanese Forces militia. These two after consulting with Samir Geagea the absolute ruler of the Christian area, agreed to receive the Toxins and chemical ship and dump it in the Christian heartland in a region called “Kesrouan” in Mount Lebanon . It was arranged that the ship enter Lebanon through the company of Armand Nassar with a declaration as “Primary Products for manufacturing” under the fake representation of the “Adonis Engineering” company with a fabricated director name assumed under “Roger Michel Haddad”. This is how Nader Succar and Georges Antun, under the security cover of Samir Geagea entered 19,000 barrels of Toxins material and buried them with the help of armed militiamen in the Kesrouan Mountains . A financial fight picked up later between Gen. Kanaan – Succar – Geagea - Antun from one side and the Italian company from the other side that was supposed the pay the 22 millions dollars . The Italian side insisted that the money will be paid only when the whole shipment will be “gone”. The Military Intelligence of the Lebanese Army discover this whole affair and notified the President of the Republic then, few day later, the news were leaked to the press . Once the news reached the press, Geagea could not cover the issue anymore. The whole operation got aborted. The scandal came out in the open with the public, Geagea “order” the Lebanese Forces to “force” the ship leave Lebanon ’s waters and took cosmetic disciplinary
“measures” against Succar & Antun as he has nothing to do with the matter to defuse public opinion. |
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