U.S. Govt. Denies Claims it is Seeking to Build Telecom Network in Lebanon

The U.S. government is not seeking to build a telecommunications network in Lebanon as was alleged in an article published by As Safir newspaper on December 15, announced the U.S. Embassy in a statement on Wednesday.

“We understand that a request for bandwidth access for internet use on behalf of the U.S. military was made by a U.S. law firm acting for the private company that provides internet service for the U.S. military,” it explained.

“We further understand that the law firm was instructed to submit this request directly to the Ministry of Telecommunications by staff at the Ministry,” it added.

The U.S. Embassy was not previously aware of the request and will follow up on this request with the Lebanese government as appropriate, revealed the embassy statement.

On Tuesday, the head of the Parliamentary Information Committee Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah confirmed reports that the U.S. army requested to establish a telecom station in Lebanon.

The lawmaker said that the committee members will thoroughly discuss the matter on Thursday in presence of Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui.

He pointed out that several MPs wondered if foreign countries are allowed to directly file the request to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority instead of filing it to the competent authority.

“We demanded the Telecommunications Ministry to provide us with the documents related to the matter,” Fadlallah told reporters.

As Safir newspaper reported over the weekend that the U.S. request is being considered by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority which will eventually refer it to the government for discussions and to take the appropriate decision.

The newspaper said that the station will be using very small aperture terminal (VSAT) technique, a satellite communications system, whereby each end user is interconnected with the hub station via the satellite. The system handles data, voice, and video signals.

Observers voiced concern that the approval of the request would jeopardize security in Lebanon as it might transfer data to Israel.

Should it be approved, As Safir reported that the station may be established near the U.S. Embassy in Awkar.