Intentional Sabotage in Telecoms Network behind Disconnection of Lines between South and Beirut

Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper revealed that Communication Minister Charbel Nahhas assigned on Tuesday a technical group to conduct an inclusive survey on all kinds of Telecoms networks, in order to specify weak spots that allow infiltration like the ones Lebanese agent for "Israeli "Charbel Azzi and Tarek Rabaa confessed with to happen.

On the same day, at 10 a.m. a break down hit the marine line which stretches 33 kilometers between Ras Beirut and Saida. This led to a sudden disconnection in the telecoms network in a rate of 90%.

The paper added that according to sources in the Ministry of Communication, technicians clarified that preliminary estimates reveal that the location and atmosphere where the breakdown took place set aside whether factors, and the possibility of an accident hitting the line.

Al Akhbar indicated that Ogero administration did not inform the ministry of the break down, despite its awareness that the landline connecting the South to other regions is also broken-down since a while. Besides, the Ministry did not know the marine line was being used and that the landline was broke-down.

The paper pointed out that the Communication Minister found out around 12 hours later and only through the phone calls of people asking about the breakdown. He later called technicians to fix the line, however, was surprised the next day to know that they failed because the equipments are invalid.

According to the newspaper sources, the strange part is that the substitute marine line connection, which is exposed to the enemy, was used. This was supposed to be a temporal arrangement until fixing defects that hit the line in July 2006 war.
However, it turned out that the usage of this line went along through the entire period after the war, without any justification or technical or security clarification.

Moreover, After the breakdown, it turned out that 10 out of 12 hair-like strands of optical fiber on the landline are cut, which surprised technicians who examined the location on Wednesday, who assured that such breakdowns usually lead to the tearing of all the hair-like strands, not just a few of them.

Furthermore, the absence of any official reporting on the breakdown had never happened before.

The sources also wondered why was the South -throughout this entire period- exposed to the enemy through the substitute marine line. How could Ogero ignore this despite its awareness that it is impossible to observe this line and protect it?

"Why didn't it fix the South landline breakdowns since July war, unlike the case in other Lebanese regions? Why wasn't the communication ministry informed of this breakdown?"

The Ministry of Communication sources concluded by telling Al Akhbar news paper, "All these questions will be answered by the committee Communication Minister Charbel Nahhas established on Wednesday, which includes experts in the ministry, and the telecom network organizing assembly."