Over 30 airport workers expelled over suspected Hezbollah ties

Lebanese authorities have started “curbing Hezbollah’s influence at the Rafik Hariri International Airport,” after the Airport Security Apparatus revoked the authorizations of a large number of airport workers who are loyal to Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia’s Asharq al-Awsat newspaper has reported.

“More than 30 airport workers have been informed of the expiry of the permits granted to them and that it will not be possible to renew them,” an informed source at the airport told the daily.

This decision “did not only involve workers who carry travelers’ luggage into and from the airport, but also those who carry luggage into and from planes, in addition to a number of employees who worked at the department of baggage inspection and lost items,” the source said.

“The decision represented a shock to those affected by the expulsion, especially that they spent long years working at the airport while enjoying freedom of action and without any accountability,” the source added.

These measures are aimed at “enhancing the security of the airport and travelers and weakening Hezbollah’s influence in it to the greatest extent,” the source went on to say, noting that those expelled were “Hezbollah’s eyes and ears inside the airport and a main source of the information it used to gather about the movement of travelers from and into the airport.”

“Granting them work and airport access permits used to take place following requests and pressure from Hezbollah, and anyone who was not loyal to Hezbollah used to be denied such a permit, which broadened its influence at the airport for long decades,” the source added.

A security source meanwhile told Asharq al-Awsat that similar measures will target members and officers from the customs administration, Internal Security Forces and General Security, adding that many are suspected of having facilitated Hezbollah’s transactions over the past period.