Since the 2005 Cedar Revolution, Washington has obligated nearly $500 million in military and economic assistance to Lebanon. Much of this funding is going to the Lebanese Armed Forces and to the Internal Security Forces—none of it is going to the Surete General (SG), the General Security forces. It’s not difficult to see why. Major General Wafik Jezzini, who is close to Hizballah, heads the SG, the agency responsible among other duties for issuing passports, surveilling the borders, and keeping an eye on foreign visitors and residents in Lebanon. (His predecessor, Jamil Al Sayed, was one of Syria’s top operatives in Lebanon from 1998-2005, when he was imprisoned in connection to the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri). In the aftermath of the assassination of a top Hamas operative in Dubai last month, and the ongoing discovery of Israeli surveillance equipment and alleged spy networks in Southern Lebanon, this week the SG decided to get tough on border security.
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New System of Profiling at Lebanon’s Borders?
