Tripoli merchants assess damage

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: To the din of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades reverberating across the city of Tripoli, some 50 shop owners assembled at a cafe near a historic building, where the late former President Camille Chamoun once lived.

The merchants were there to assess the heavy damage caused to their stores by three days of fierce fighting between the Lebanese Army and Islamist militants that has left at least 27 people dead.

A Lebanese Army armored personnel carrier was stationed in the middle of the street leading to Tripoli’s labyrinth-like old souks, the scene of pitched street battles between the Army and ISIS-inspired militants, to prevent the seemingly jittery and angry merchants from heading to inspect the damage at their shell-riddled stores.

“For your own safety, you cannot cross [to your stores]. The battle is still raging and the Army officer’s orders are not to let anyone [into the area] except journalists and ambulances,” a soldier standing near the APC told the shop owners.

The merchants’ talk focused mainly on the size of damage and financial losses incurred to their stores located deep within the old souks – which include the gold souk, the spices souk, the Church Street and Bazarkan souk – as a result of the fighting.

Tripoli’s historic city, which goes back to the Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman eras up to the French Mandate and independence, has a remarkable economic reputation, having been turned into a hub accommodating thousands of various commercial shops visited not only by residents in Tripoli and the north in general, but also by people from other Lebanese areas and abroad.

All of a sudden, Tripoli’s ancient souks and its magnificent vaults were turned into a safe haven for armed groups holed up inside and since Friday night became the scene of fierce battles following the attack on an Army post in the neighborhood of Khan al-Askar.

As the fighting between the Army and militants quickly spread deep into the old souks, engulfing even the narrow alleyways, and the gunmen fired RPGs at military posts and set shops ablaze, the shop owners became increasingly worried about the heavy damage caused to their properties.

In what appeared to be a response to the military orders not to let civilians into the old souks for security reasons, Wassif Jabakhanji, a shop owner sitting on a small chair, said: “I have ascertained that my stores had been completely burned and I have no hope. But it is my right to inspect my properties even if they turned into scattered ashes.”

While the merchants talked about their financial woes, news came that a meeting was being held Saturday at north Lebanon Mufti Malek Shaar’s house in Tripoli and another meeting was held at Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi’s residence attended by the city’s ministers and lawmakers to discuss ways to restore calm to the war-torn city.

One of the assembled shop owners scoffed at the outcome of the two meetings, but another storekeeper acted in a conceited manner after having talked by phone with Rifi, who promised him that the Higher Relief Committee would pay them compensation for the damage.

Commenting on the government’s stance on their ordeal, a shop owner, who refused to be named, said: “It is a one-side love that will never survive. This is our situation with the state. We, thousands of merchants in Tripoli’s souks, are the nerve of this city, its economic lifeline and its social safety valve. We don’t deserve this negligence which brought us to this disaster. Our properties have been turned into a battlefield, while what was required was to protect us rather than compensate us.”

He lashed out at politicians who defended Tripoli’s militant leaders Shadi al-Mawlawi and Osama Mansour and who tried to secure the release of Ahmad Salim Mikati, a key ISIS member, whose capture by the Army had triggered the new round of fighting in Tripoli.

“Those who tried to release Ahmad Salim Mikati are the ones who brought us to disaster. Why should we bet on them again? We and the Lebanese Army are today paying a hefty price for religious extremism. This is a solid fact,” he said.

Broken glass and pieces of stone littering the streets bear witness to ferocious clashes in the old souks, home to the ABC mall owned by Tripoli MP Robert Fadel and a ready-wear clothes factory owned by the Safadi family, in addition to several cloth shops.

Most of the stores’ goods, shoes and clothes, completely burned, were blown out into the street by the exchange of heavy shelling.

The Evangelical Church and Al-Rahibat [nuns] Street, part of Al-Arid Street, were also the scene of battles that spread to Nejmeh Square and the spices souk, where a man and his son were killed by an RPG.

A number of journalists who gathered around soldiers were joined by local residents who shook hands with troops and kissed them, while women served tea and coffee in celebration of the Army’s deployment in their area.

“I didn’t realize that I love the Lebanese Army until I discovered its value after having lived with my children [through] the hell of last night,” a local resident said. “We will not ask about the size of damage because property becomes worthless when it comes to peace and safety. We have no other choice than the state.”