Following the kidnapping last week of Middle East Airlines employee Youssef Sader, in broad daylight on the airport road, the ISF have drawn a blank. On Wednesday, the body of a pilot from the same company was discovered in a car in Beirut’s Ouzai neighborhood. Ghassan Hassan Maqdad was found in his Nissan four-wheel drive on Wednesday morning with gunshot wounds to the head. What impact do such security incidents have on the Lebanese? Could the incidents be connected? NOW asked people in Beirut what they thought.
Mazen, 27, Beirut
It is something internal, something inside Middle East Airlines. It's not political, I don't think, it may be something criminal, someone made a mistake there, and it is like we see in any movie...it's internal.
Khalid, 23, Hamra
I personally did not believe what I read. I think it is like something that was planned. Middle East Airlines is a symbol for Lebanon and I think it is a message for everyone. Because Mideast is not political, it does not represent one party or religion, it's not affiliated. Whoever is doing this is threatening a company, which represents the whole of Lebanon, to send a message.
Rawan, 21, Mount Lebanon
What I think is worrying is that the kidnapping happened in the morning, in daylight, not at night or in secret. It makes me worry about safety in Lebanon.
Fadi, 42, Hamra
I don't think this is related to politics. I know the guy who was kidnapped. He was not religious, sectarian, he was neutral. I guess someone wanted to harm him and the other man, who was killed, and they chose now to do it, so that people would say it was related to politics, to elections. They are sending a message to Middle East Airlines, which is a symbol of all of Lebanon.
Bilal, 23, Ras Nabah
I think that it is just an incident that could happen in any country, not only in Lebanon. It is not an issue of security in Lebanon. Every day we can hear about incidents of this kind in other countries. I don't think it is suspicious - or I don't think it's political. It could be about family, or money, or I don't know what.
Ahmed, 24, Tripoli
I have a scheduled plane ticket to go to Toronto next week. My sister is studying at university there. I am afraid to go on Middle East airlines, because the pilots are being killed.
Elias, 25, Jdeideh
I think it affects Lebanon in many ways. One of them is the international effect it has because they were both in the airline industry. I think it will decrease the number of tourists coming here. [However], I think it was more of a personal issue rather than a national issue…It doesn’t have any repercussions on a national basis. It was a personal thing.
Charbel, 25, Mayrouba
“I think it was a mistake to do this. It has a bad impact on Lebanon. MEA is a sort of window to the world. It’s bad news for tourists to hear. [They won’t want to come] if they hear about political problems and things like that. We need people to be able to come easily and not think of Lebanon’s troubles and be afraid. Also, we need things that make people think of things other than killing associated with Lebanon. Especially in Lebanon, people always used to hear about killing and wars and civil war. [But these incidents didn’t tarnish Lebanon’s image for good.] I think these incidents were a message because [Maqdad’s] brother was killed [in December 2008] near the same location. We have to think of all the people around these people. Maybe they offended a politician. Or he can be dangerous [to some parties]. For Sader, he’s an engineer with MEA’s [information technology] department. He might have some data about what happened before [in 2005 when former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed]. I think they are related. During the 2006 war 3,000 soldiers came to Lebanon in the middle of the night to help Hezbollah fight Israel. So they might have information about that or about the 2005 killing of Hariri. You know one ton of TNT entered Lebanon. It must have entered in pieces instead of all at once. You cannot fill a pick-up truck and cross the border.”