Sunday, April 17, 2005
To her credit, Lebanese right-wing opposition leader Nayla Mu`awwad was the only one who dared to mention the corrupt background of prime minister-designate, Najib Miqati. She reminded the Lebanese that when he was minister of public works his ministry was fraught with massive corruption (especially the contracts for asphalt). He used to brag that he is "a personal friend" of Bashshar al-Asad, but has not mentioned that in the last few days. He lived in the same building with Bashshar when the latter was doing his residency in London in the 1980s. But the US approves of him, so he became in US media references "a moderate" although he aligned himself in Tripoli with some extremist Islamic fundamentalist groups. And the shifty right-wing warlord Walid Jumblat is quickly reverting back to his past discourse, against the US and its plans in the region. Next week he may even going back to praising Stalin in his grave. I am eager to be in Lebanon this June and July. I plan to meet a lot of people. Will write to you from there as I did last year, although I will not be able to post poetry or art from there. But I will post the food that I will eat in Lebanon on my site, although you need to pour olive oil on your screens to really enjoy the taste.