Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, the country’s only functional airport, is supposed to be run by the Airport Security Service under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In reality, things are much more complicated. File photo Reuters
On top of that, the different roles of the three security agencies in the airport – the Lebanese Army, Airport Police (a branch of the Internal Security Forces), and General Security – are not clearly defined. This leads to confusion and dysfunction. The current director of the Airport Security Service is General George Doumit of the Lebanese Army. Technically in charge, he does not have control over all the agencies supposedly under his command. While he has authority over the airport’s command center, broken down into five departments, he does not have the power to issue orders to the airport police, General Security or customs officials. He cannot even discipline them in case of abuse, error, corruption or disobedience.
Daily power struggles
Every day at the airport there are arguments between the leaderships of the various security services over spheres of influence and the division of responsibilities. The fact that the different agencies are affiliated with rival political and sectarian camps does not help the situation. The airport’s location, in an area where Hezbollah holds sway, further contributes to these tensions.
Until the incident on Sept. 26, quarrels at the airport were usually contained before passengers had a chance to realize what was happening. But the confrontation between the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces (ISF) in front of passengers at the entrance of the airport that day highlighted the ongoing power struggles and exposed the tense relationship between General Doumit, seen as being close to President Michel Aoun, and the airport chief of police, Colonel Bilal Hajjar, who is close to ISF General Director Imad Osman and outgoing Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk. The incident caused concern among Lebanon’s western backers and underscored the importance of developing a national strategy for civil aviation security.
A plan does exist, but only as a draft. The document calls for the creation of a general authority for the management of civil aviation to efficiently and effectively run the airport. This agency would be under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Transport and have a clearly defined mandate and organizational chart to avoid future conflicts and dysfunction. Now more than ever it is important to adopt this plan to avoid damaging Lebanon’s reputation abroad and to prevent security breaches that could have catastrophic consequences. Lebanon’s airport was designed in 1992 to accommodate 6 million passengers per year. But 8 million people have passed through its doors in each of the past two years, greatly exceeding its capacity. The government urgently needs to put in place a modernization and expansion plan, especially since building a second airport is out of the question.
To better understand the functioning of the security services at the Rafic Hariri International, L'Orient-Le Jour set out to dissect the airport’s organization chart with the help of three experts who wish to remain anonymous.
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The head of security and his command center
The Airport Security Service was created in 1978 but its implementation decree had to wait till 1982. The decree is now outdated, especially considering the current global threat of terrorism.
The director of the Airport Security Service is generally appointed by the government and is usually a high ranking officer, such as a lieutenant-colonel, in either the army or ISF. The position is not allotted to a specific religious sect, although the Shia community claims it. If the director comes from the Lebanese Army, his appointment must be approved by the president, Prime minister, minister of Interior and minister of Defense. But if the director is part of the ISF, the Defense minister does not have to sign off on the appointment. General Doumit, the current head of the Airport Security Service and a member of the Greek-Orthodox community, was not appointed by official decree. Instead, the army assigned him to the post with the permission of the president, Prime minister, minister of Defense and minister of Interior.
The second in command to the director of the Airport Security Service is usually a member of the ISF, holding the rank of commander or higher, appointed by the minister of interior.
The director oversees a command center consisting of five sections: command, management, inspection, public relations and complaints and investigations. These departments advise the director in his administrative work, conduct investigations, manage security and gather intelligence. The director has the authority to give them orders and administer punishments – at least in theory.
In reality, the situation is not so simple. The managers and staff of the command center come from the Ministry of Interior and are appointed by both the minister of Defense and minister of Interior. It is not uncommon for the commander in chief of the military to transfer members of the operation room to posts outside of the airport. And the managers of the five departments often have close relationships with political figures. The inspection branch, for example, tasked with investigating persons who are wanted, is led by Colonel Ali Noureddine, the son-in-law of Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri.
Problematic relationships between the departments and the director
The Airport Security Service has six branches: the airport defense battalion run by the Lebanese Army, airport police run by ISF, General Security, customs, the airport fire department, and the airport guard, which only exists on paper. In theory, they are all under the command of General Doumit. But in reality, at least three of them – the airport police, GS and customs – report to their own command structures when it comes to logistics and disciplinary actions. They do not take orders from General Doumit.
That means the director of the Airport Security Service cannot punish a member of the ISF, for example, if he sees him violating the law by helping a passenger bypass a security check, accepting a bribe or helping with a drug smuggling operation. He can only inform the command that the member answers to, which will then decide to take disciplinary action or not. This process is long and often dysfunctional, allowing each branch of the security service to act on its own – often with impunity.
The different branches of the command center have different roles at the airport. The airport defense battalion is responsible for perimeter security and answers directly to the director of airport security. Composed of several army units, its members patrol the airport and are posted at military checkpoints and gates nearby and in several surrounding guard towers.
The airport police, under the command of Colonel Bilal Hajjar, is technically a branch of ISF, but it is affiliated with embassy security services. It leads the guard, manages security, searches luggage and passengers at the entrance of the airport and inside and regulates road traffic and vehicle parking. It also oversees the response to emergency situations.
Colonel Hajjar and General Doumit have a notoriously difficult relationship. The tension was tolerated as long as it remained private. But when it presented a security risk on Sept. 26, a rumor began circulating about the two men possibly being dismissed. During a televised speech on Oct. 31 marking the second anniversary of his ascension to the presidency, Michel Aoun suggested that the dismissal could indeed be considered after a new government is formed.
Risks of conflict
As for the other sections of the Airport Security Service, General Security personnel at the airport report to the general director of General Security, Abbas Ibrahim, and manage passport control, check passengers identities, administer visas and handle immigration violations. Customs staff oversee the flow of goods in and out of Lebanon and monitor for smuggling and illegal trafficking. Customs staff are divided into two different groups: One is headed by a civilian and reports to the General Directorate of Customs within the Ministry of Finance; The other is linked to the Airport Security Service, which is under the Ministry of Interior, but in reality receives its orders from the director of the customs at the airport who answers to the Ministry of Finance. This arrangement sets up the possibility of conflict with the director of the Airport Security Service, who technically should be in charge.
The final section is the airport fire department. It falls under General Doumit’s command and is responsible for crises, fires and accidents.
This complex web of responsibilities and chains of command is an obvious source of disorganization. The fact that each service is protective of its turf at the airport further complicates the situation. The head of the Airport Security Service, while technically in charge, really exercises only limited authority. Yet if a security breach happens, or anything else goes wrong, he will be the person ultimately held responsible.
(The original French version of this article was first published in L'Orient-Le Jour on November the 30th)
