“A gun is a man’s jewelry.” So says an old Arabic proverb. Traditionally, a father would buy his son a gun when he is born in the same way a girl would receive a pair of gold earrings. In Lebanon, this tradition is all but dead, but the Lebanese still love their guns. In fact, the country is loaded with them. It is estimated that there are over 1 million weapons in private circulation. A significant percentage of them are sporting guns and rifles. Despite a nine-year-old ban on hunting some 30,000 rifles and shotguns – costing between $300 (for a mass produced Turkish 12-bore) to $100,000 for the top of the range Purdeys – are sold in Lebanon every year. There are over a dozen importers and some 50 medium to large distributors operating in a market with a worth of up to $2 million a year. With the right permits, importing and selling hunting weapons is legal. The import of handguns for private – as opposed to government use – is not. This black market is made up of discreet gun collectors, who have the money to pay over the odds for the world’s finest handguns. Then, there are the heavy caliber weapons, both those creaking relics of the civil war (mainly small arms such as the 7.62mm AK47s and M16s and the equally ubiquitous, shoulder-fired RPG launchers, which are coveted by thugs, bodyguards and nostalgics of every stamp) and the new hi-tech hardware destined for private armies and resistance groups, such as Hizbullah. Finally, while Lebanon is not an integral cog in the $30 billion global arms trade, some of its movers and shakers are Lebanese.
The law
Unless you have a permit, it is illegal to carry a non-hunting weapon about your person in Lebanon. This means anything from a Derringer to Stinger. A license can be obtained from the ministry of defense (although one issued by the Syrian ministry of defense gives the owner greater kudos) and, while there is no exact criteria laid down for who can get a permit under what circumstances, an applicant basically has to prove that the weapon is a matter of life and death for himself, his family or his business. Having the right connections can also work miracles.
Politicians often have a permit, as do diamond dealers, money runners, security personnel, bodyguards and, last but certainly not least, undercover law enforcement officers. To own a hunting rifle or shotgun a permit is required from the ministry of interior. To hunt however, requires a second permit, issued annually by the ministry of agriculture, even though hunting has been banned since 1995 after the UN laid down conditions for the donation of millions of dollars to establish a string of nature reserves in the country. Last January however, the law was changed, allowing hunting of certain species at certain times, although this law still has to be ratified. When it is, enforcement will be the responsibility of the ministry of environment.
Gun importers and agents need a permit from the ministry of interior to trade. Both importers and distributors need to satisfy the ministry of defense that they comply with all safety requirements concerning the storage of arms and ammunition, before the permit from the ministry of interior can be issued.
A-hunting we will go
The market for hunting guns is currently worth an estimated $1.5 to $2million. Business boomed just after the war, when peace allowed hunting enthusiasts to resume their old hobby. It was to be a short-lived reunion. The 1995 ban hit the sector hard, causing sales to drop by some 40% to 50% (one importer has sold 16,000 guns since 1993, half of which were sold before 1995).
There are 17 gun importers in Lebanon and some 260 shops selling hunting equipment, although most are quite small, located in the villages, and only offer a handful of guns and cartridges. This leaves around 50 medium to large outlets, which sell a wider range of hunting weapons (although many of these push the definition of “hunting” and would be equally suited to the streets of Fallujah than the mountains of Lebanon) as well as binoculars, camouflage jackets, tents, and boots. Prices of guns vary considerably. A quality shot gun, of say the Italian Beretta or Benelli, costs an average of $400 to $600, while you pay up to $6,000 for the top of the line models. As much as 90% of guns sold in Lebanon fall under the first category.
If you opt for a handmade, bespoke gun, expect to pay between $15,000 to $50,000. The Lebanese agent for Beretta recently sold a $16,000 gun to the Sultan of Bahrain, but this is small change when compared to those made by the British craftsmen of Holland & Holland and Purdey, whose antique models sell at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars. On a recent trip to Iraq, however, one lucky Lebanese businessman picked up a pair of Holland & Holland rifles, worth around $40,000, for $7,000 from a cash strapped owner.
Handguns
Unlike the US, where a handgun – and even a machine gun – can be bought on nearly every block, the private sale of handguns in Lebanon is illegal. Supply is limited and demand among gun aficionados has pushed-up the price to roughly three times the normal market value. While in the US, an average Colt or Glock will cost you about $600, expect to pay around $2,000 in Lebanon. Silencers and other deeply desirable options – engraving etc. – come at an extra cost.
Lebanese collectors, unlike their counterparts in the Gulf, who like their guns plated with gold or encrusted with diamonds, generally opt for the original or “classic” models in mint condition. A small collection (say between 10 to 15 guns) can be worth as much as $30,000 to $40,000, but some local collectors have rooms with weapons worth nearly $1 million.
In the same way that a watch can be much more than just a timepiece, so too is a gun more than just a weapon to a collector. But like the man who wears a Casio digital, the gun enthusiast who wants a no-frills gun that will never let him down will buy a Browning. Developed originally in Belgium at the turn of the century, it has today become the standard issue for many armies and law enforcement agencies around the world. In Lebanon, a Browning 9mm can cost as little as $100.
Heavier items
During the Civil War, Lebanon was flooded with arms. The USA and Israel supplied the Christian militias. The Libyans, Saudis and other Arabs states armed the Palestinians and their leftist allies; Iraq came to aide of General Aoun, while Iran and Syria supplied Amal and Hizbullah. When the war ended, the Lebanese army impounded much of this huge stockpile, but a significant portion was sold on to other militias, especially in the Balkans, fighting their own civil wars.
Equally large numbers of small arms – M-16s and AK 47s – have been stashed away, part of the national paranoia that one day all hell would again break loose. Many found their way onto the open market. While an M-16 can cost up to $1,000 on the international market, in Lebanon it can be bought for as little as $400. AK47s, at $200, come even cheaper.
After the end of the Cold War, the market was flooded with surplus arms from both sides (it is these small arms – and the hugely unreliable but very spectacular RPGs – that are harassing the coalition forces in Iraq) but the really heavy stuff – tanks and artillery – came from the cash-strapped former communist countries of Eastern Europe. Today, you can buy a former East German tank for $40,000, while an RPG will not cost you more than $1,000. Hizbullah’s mortar and Katusha rocket systems have a price tag of several thousand of dollars.
Recently, a sizeable number of MP5K automatic machine guns have entered the Lebanese market from Iraq. This American-made weapon was used mainly by the Iraqi police and army and used to cost around $6,000 in Lebanon. Today, they can be picked up for $3,000. It is expected that many more weapons from the pre-war regime will flood the market in coming months and years, such are the huge stockpiles of conventional arms amassed by Saddam Hussein.
In any country the biggest spender on arms would normally be the army, and security services, but in Lebanon, most of the post-war budget goes on salaries and maintenance (the army’s 300 tanks are at least 30 years old) and no major investments have been made, although the US did sell the Lebanese government some old helicopters – the ones seen on parades and state visits – for bargain basement prices.
The international arms trade
According to Stockholm International Peace Institute, global military expenditure and arms trade form the largest spending in the world at over $950 billion annually, half of which is bankrolled by the US. By far the largest part is spent on operations, personnel and maintenance. The total value of global arms transfers between 1999 and 2002 was $139.8 billion, some 60% of which was paid by developing countries.
The bulk of the business is composed of highly expensive fighter jets, ships, submarines, tanks and other big items, which are sold mainly by and to governments. The world’s main producers are UN Security Council members, the USA, Russia, Britain, China and France, followed by Israel, South Africa and several smaller European countries. Private arms dealers generally supply the smaller arms, with which most wars are fought – rifles, machine guns, grenades, mortars and RPG launchers. There are an estimated 600 million small arms in circulation around the world, which cause an estimated 500,000 deaths every year.
Arms brokers come in handy when governments intend to sell weapons to clients that are considered too controversial – guerillas, revolutionaries and dictatorial regimes. One of the world’s most famous arms brokers is Lebanese: Sarkis Soghanalian (see box). According to London-based Jane’s Intelligence Review, the unofficial global trade is worth an estimated $2 billion to $10 billion depending on who is fighting whom. Arms dealers never work alone, so it is an open secret that despite the UN embargo, Germany supplied Croatia in the Balkan War, Russia armed Serbia, and Iran and the USA armed Bosnia.
The task of a private arms dealer is not only to guarantee that the weapons arrive and money is paid, but most of all, to ensure that the paper trail concerning the weapons’ origins cannot be traced back to the supplier. The deal is, therefore, executed by a string of shell companies and off-shore banks. Most essential, is that the broker knows how to obtain a so-called “end-user certificate,” which states that the arms will not be sold on to third parties. Bolivia is believed to be a major trade hub on the black market. Switzerland comes in handy on the financial side of deals and has traditionally regarded arms trade as just another business, while London, home to over 300 major dealers among whom several are Lebanese, is the trade capital of the world.
Sarkis Soghanalian
Born in 1939, this 150-kilo Lebanese of Armenian descent made his name and fortune during the Cold War, as the CIA’s main business partner. For two decades he was based in the USA, brokering all kinds of deals that broke official embargos. He started his trade by funneling weapons to Lebanon’s Christian militias, before supplying rebels in Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Argentina. He went on to arm Iraq under the reign of Saddam Hussein. He claims everything he did was with the knowledge of US government officials. He was briefly jailed after the Gulf War and is currently standing trial in absentia in Peru for supplying East German AK47s he had bought from Jordan to the Peruvian government, which eventually ended up in the hands of Columbian rebels.
