Friday, December 07, 2012

One of the worst Propaganda Fiascos for Hariri-Saudi intelligence

When Al-Akhbar released audio tapes showing Hariri MP `Uqab Saqr discussing arms shipments to Syrian armed groups, the Hariri media were silent and even some Hariri MPs criticized Saqr and dissociated themselves from him.  One Hariri MP, Mustafa `Allush, went as far as saying that he does not represent the Hariri movement.  And a few days ago, Saqr broke his silence and admitted the authenticity of the tapes in an interview with the mouthpiece of Prince Salman, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat.  But suddenly someone in the Hariri and Saudi intelligence apparatus, decided to change tactics and strategy.  So Saqr shows up yesterday in a press conference in Istanbul, and he appeared rattled, agitated, and nervous and spoke in the most vulgar and crude fashion and released the most fake mixture of tapes in which he claimed that he was shipping milk and "blankets to cover the pudenda of Syria women"--sic in Arabic.  The tapes that he released were so clearly stitched together that OTV in Lebanon showed the technical makeup of the real and the new tapes and the differences were clear to viewers.  What a mess.  At least Rafiq Hariri was able and skillful as much as I despised him.