The Lebanese flag carrier MEA became embroiled in an embarrassing row over monies owed by the state to German construction firm, Walter Bau AG. A scheduled MEA flight from Istanbul to Beirut could not depart because representatives of the German firm had gained a court order impounding the plane to enforce payment of $7 million owed Walter Bau for highway construction contracts from the late 1990s. The measure drew sharp criticism from MEA chairman Mohammed Hout who was quoted in newspapers as saying that MEA was a private sector company and not party to the dispute. MEA, one airplane short, had to ferry its stranded passengers via Athens back to Beirut. The conflict between the German company and the Lebanese state appears to date back to 1997, when Walter Bau had been awarded a contract related to the creation of a proposed toll-based superhighway network under a Build-Operate-Transfer scheme. However,
