Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Investment scandal damages Hezbollah

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/25/AR2009112503756.html
Investment scandal damages Hezbollah
Even backers question 'Party of God' over ties to indicted financier
By Alia Ibrahim
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, November 26, 2009
YAROUN, LEBANON -- Suleiman's brother was a Hezbollah fighter, killed in 
the 2006 war with Israel. His house was destroyed by an Israeli shell. 
And now, his life's fortune is gone, too, lost along with the money of 
thousands of other Lebanese who put their faith in a billionaire 
financier with close ties to Hezbollah.
The investment scheme, which is being called the Lebanese version of the 
Bernie Madoff scandal, threatens to tarnish the Shiite group's carefully 
cultivated image as a pious defender of the masses that is above the 
corruption endemic in many of Lebanon's political parties.
As Hezbollah enters the new coalition government and plots its next move 
in the rough-and-tumble world of Lebanese politics, the "Party of God" 
is facing unprecedented questions, even among supporters, over its basic 
integrity.
Suleiman, who would not allow his last name to be published, said he 
gave $261,000 saved over 22 years of work to Youssef Faour, a partner of 
financier Salah Ezzedine. Suleiman, 40, said he was "comforted by 
Ezzedine's ties with Hezbollah," which are well-known, and ignored 
warning signs that something was wrong.
It is not known yet whether Ezzedine's investments were fraudulent and 
who, if anyone, profited. Ezzedine and Faour are in custody as their 
trial slowly progresses.
"These two are just crooks who conned people and stole from them by 
telling them this was divine money that will bring them 40 percent 
interest in profit," said Suleiman, a father of five.
Hezbollah has denied any relationship with the financier. During a 
speech in September, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah said that the 
group had never encouraged its members to invest with Ezzedine but that 
it had launched an investigation. He said "a small number" of party 
officials had invested $4 million with Ezzedine -- a figure the Lebanese 
media described as significantly understated.
Observers also scoffed at the notion that Hezbollah had nothing to do 
with Ezzedine, noting a long track record of ties.
Either way, the damage to Hezbollah's reputation is real.
The group and its top officials have long had access to large sums of 
money by virtue of generous support from Shiite businessmen and from 
Iran. But Hezbollah has gone out of its way to avoid flamboyant displays 
of wealth, instead projecting itself as an organization ready to stand 
shoulder to shoulder with residents of the Shiite slums of southern 
Beirut and the villages of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah's propaganda advertises its membership as a group of dedicated 
and selfless "martyrs" who liberated the land and whose only agenda is 
to protect it from Israel. To make up for a lack of government services, 
the group has built its own network of schools, hospitals and even 
financial institutions.
That track record has set Hezbollah apart from other parties in Lebanon 
and from the Palestinian organization Fatah, whose political corruption 
is legendary. Nasrallah has signaled that he knows how dangerous 
corruption scandals could be for his party. At a recent meeting with 
female Hezbollah members, he reportedly spoke out against "Envoy 
culture" -- referring to the SUV brand that is popular among party 
members and that has become a symbol of their affluence.
Allegations of involvement in the drug trade have further damaged 
Hezbollah's reputation. In a recent speech, Nasrallah raised the issue 
and spoke of an attempt to "destroy the culture of resistance."
Some wonder whether his statements will be enough.
"Hezbollah is not the first revolutionary movement to be corrupted by 
money, and it won't be the last," wrote columnist Sateh Noureddine in 
the pro-Hezbollah newspaper As-Safir.
Much of the change in behavior can be traced to the aftermath of 
Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, when government compensation money 
flooded impoverished Shiite neighborhoods devastated by Israeli attacks.
Some of the money went toward reconstruction, but much of what was left 
ended up with Ezzedine. Some Hezbollah backers sold their land and their 
homes so they would have extra money to invest with the businessman, who 
promised eye-popping returns. He even appealed to his customers' piety 
by insisting that his investment strategies were compatible with Islamic 
banking principles, which generally prohibit interest-bearing accounts.
Ezzedine's services sparked a boom -- new cars, restaurants, cafes and 
fashions.
"All logic and reason suddenly disappeared in one day, as well as the 
simplicity in life and its requirements," wrote Ibrahim al-Amin, editor 
in chief of Al-Akhbar, a pro-Hezbollah newspaper.
But now, the morality of Hezbollah's cadres is being questioned for the 
first time by supporters suffering amid the country's rough economic 
situation, said Mona Fayyad, a sociology professor at the Lebanese 
University.
"People have started asking questions. Where is the money coming from? 
Till now, they avoided speaking about this loudly, because they are 
terrorized," she said.
In the long run, she said, damage to Hezbollah is unavoidable because 
its success, to a large extent, depends on an image of superiority that 
its cadres reflected -- and that is now gone.
"Sayyed Nasrallah used to address his supporters by calling them the 
most honorable people, placing them above all other humans," she said. 
"What happened showed they are just as corruptible as everybody else."
Ibrahim is a special correspondent.

 Even backers question 'Party of God' over ties to indicted financier
IMO dare i propri risparmi di una vita ad Hizbollah è da deficienti.