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Rebuilding Beirut Port Could Prove Controversial, Analysts Say

Dale Gavlak

   AMMAN - Lebanon's port of Beirut, severely damaged in the recent
   devastating explosion, has resumed partial operations, according to
   authorities.

   Kuwait has offered to help Lebanon reconstruct and operate the facility
   as well as others in the cash-strapped nation.

   Analysts said China is also eyeing its prospects to rebuild the port as
   yet another entry way to spread its influence into the eastern
   Mediterranean. The overtures to Beijing are raising concerns.

   Journalist Baria Alamuddin, writing in Saudi newspaper Arab News, has
   expressed alarm that Iran-backed Hezbollah courted China. She said,
   "Chinese companies have long sought to play a major role in Lebanese
   infrastructure projects proposing $12 billion worth of investments in
   ports, railways, electricity and waste management." But as Alamuddin
   points out, "Infrastructure projects reliant on Chinese engineers and
   labor would hardly help reduce Lebanon's 35% unemployment rate."

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