[LCM Articles] A memory...

[Loai Naamani]

"... That night in December of 2001, after my beating at the hands of Afghan refugees enraged at the death of the their loved ones
in a US air raid, I was lying in bed in great pain, my face stuck to my pillow with blood, when my phone rang. A familiar voice
boomed down the line. "Robert. This is Rafiq Hariri. What happened? Tell me from the start!" And, after I had talked for five
minutes, he offered to send his private jet to pick me up in Quetta - his friend, Pervez Musharraf, would give immediate landing
permission - and bring me to hospital in Beirut. But of course, I don't take gifts from prime ministers and I turned him down. And
two days ago, I stood at Hariri's graveside, watching Musharraf mourn his friend.

...

I am reminded, looking at those fresh flowers on his grave, of another conversation, long ago, in which the unthinkable question
came up. What would happen to Lebanon if he died?

Hariri raised his hands in front of me, open either side of his face. "So keep me alive!" he roared. And of course, we did not."  -
Robert Fisk

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