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Gun Prices Shoot Up in Lebanon after Fears of War

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Written by News Editor

Sunday, 27 April 2008

The Washington post said in an article that gun prices have shot up in Lebanon after fears of war. It said Abu Omar, a money changer and father of 11 who lives in Beirut, has bought at least 10 firearms since the beginning of last year. "Everything I can put my hands on and I can afford, I buy. I never sell," he said. "Now is a time for buying arms." Many Lebanese, increasingly worried about the country's political paralysis devolving into violence, are preparing themselves in the same way, the newspaper said. It said one measure of their anxiety is the price of small arms: An AK-47 that went for $75 to $100 a year ago now costs somewhere between $600 and $1,000. Even larger, outdated arms are gaining value, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers that were once considered the "garbage of weapons," said Ghassan Qarhani, a former fighter familiar with the arms market. Today, RPG launchers cost $500, up from $50, he said, noting that they are useful for street warfare. Lebanon is facing its worst political crisis since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war, with the feuding factions unable to agree on a compromise to elect a replacement to pro-Syrian former president Emile Lahoud, who stepped down in November at the end of his mandate. Despite disarmament accords, many of Lebanon's militia members have retained their weapons, The Washington Post wrote. It said supporters of newer groups, such as the predominantly Sunni Future Movement, and those loyal to Christian opposition leader Gen. Michel Aoun, appear to be buying weapons now. Qarhani, who lives in the northern city of Tripoli, estimated that half of the residents in the city's low-income Sunni neighborhoods now have weapons. A couple of years ago, "very, very few were armed," he said. The Washington Post said that according to dealers and buyers most of the weapons on the market date from the civil war and had been stored away. Now they are changing hands. "There are more arms dealers in this country than there is hair on my head," said Abu Omar, who has long white hair. "I buy from three different sources: a Syrian, a Palestinian and a Shiite from the southern suburb. I call them and tell them what I want, and they bring the pieces to me; sometimes, they call me when they have a special piece," he said. Most dealers are part-timers who start as aficionados and then transition into trading until they are known for what they do, the Washington Post wrote. "The government knows everything. They know who is buying and they know who is selling, and right now, the policy is to allow people to own guns, as long as they shoot only in the air and not at each other," Qarhani said. The Lebanese government has not removed weapons from Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon or disarmed Hizbullah. Events in January 2007 drove many Lebanese to invest in personal protection, dealers and others told the Washington Post. A strike called by the opposition was followed two days later by clashes between Shiites and Sunnis in the university neighborhood of Tarik Jadideh, leaving four people dead. The violence brought Beirut to closer to civil war, with snipers on rooftops and tanks on the ground. Concerns about sectarian warfare compelled Lebanese leaders to restrain their supporters, but tensions persist between Sunnis and Shiites. "Tarik Jadideh was a slap on our face," said Assad al-Sabaa, who belonged to a Sunni militia during the civil war. He was referring to clashes between Shiites and Sunnis at the Beirut Arab University in January 2007. "It was the first warning; they burned our cars and threw stones at our houses. We realized that we have to depend on ourselves to protect our neighborhoods and our families and our properties." "Beirut has its people, and we will not let them occupy it," Sabaa said of a long-standing Hizbullah tent city in downtown Beirut. "Should I wait until they occupy my house?" The need to buy guns is felt by rich and poor. Nada, a resident of the upscale Clemenceau neighborhood, told The Washington Post that she was surprised when her father first gave her a gun and asked her to keep it in the house. Now, she's used to it. She declined to give her full name. "This is history repeating itself. When people feel unprotected and they fear the other, they seek self-protection, they buy guns, and from that moment on, the road is very slippery," said Assad Shaftari, a former leader in a militia that fought during the civil war. Shaftari said he remembers very well buying his first gun, from a Palestinian. "He was my enemy, and we both knew it, but business was business," he said. "It was an amazing feeling, carrying a gun," he said. "It makes a person feel more manly, more protected, but once you own a gun, you start treating it like a baby, you clean it, you take care of it, and wait for the time to use it, you want to see how it works. "And then you use it, and it uses you, you find yourself in a war, just like that."

 

 

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