All articles - Lebanon

The Corporate Intelligence Gazette
BGD in Kyrgyzstan, Axis Middle East, Cicommunication and Iran, New name for the CDSE

Appointments, financial results, new contracts: every Wednesday, we report on events big and small that matter in the global corporate intelligence community.

WashingtonKyrgyz sovereign wealth fund looking to network with Trump administration

BeirutAxis enlists regional veteran to boost Middle East expansion

ParisCicommunication advising Iranian opposition

ParisCorporate security bosses debate and opt to rename CDSE

Emmanuel Macron to travel to Beirut Friday with diplomatic adviser

The French president is due to travel to the Lebanese capital on Friday 17 January with his diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne, who tendered his resignation earlier this week. Macron managed to convince the former French ambassador to Lebanon to make the trip with him.

Former CIA officer launches political podcast funded by UAE firm linked to Lebanese journalist

Larry Johnson disclosed in new FARA filings that he has been paid by a UAE company connected to the Lebanese journalist Ghina Amyouni to create a new podcast that discusses global politics.

Lebanese spymasters hard at work after Beirut-Tel Aviv ceasefire

As the truce between Israel and Hezbollah provides for the Lebanese state to regain full responsibility of its territory, Beirut wants its intelligence services at the ready. But despite support from the West, those services are structurally weakened.

Jihad El Annan Part II: The Czech Connection

In the second part of our series on the Lebanese entrepreneur, we look at how he has spun his web as far as the Czech Republic through a network of partners with strong ties to local defence circles.

Jihad El Annan, once connected to pro-Hezbollah circles, supplies Lebanese intelligence

The businessman's former ties with the Amhaz brothers, blacklisted by the US for their connections with Hezbollah, have not stopped him from expanding his defence and intelligence businesses in Lebanon.

Lebanese telecom tycoon Joe Zoghzoghi tries hand at defence

Zoghzoghi, the business partner of several European defence groups in the Middle East, wants to boost his activity in the defence sector.

Washington counts on General Joseph Aoun to maintain its local investment in Lebanon

The commander of Lebanon's armed forces Joseph Aoun has an extensive political network in the US, which has stage-managed a bid to move him from the barracks to the presidential palace.

Byblos Groups new branch B-Guard ME opens in Beirut

French security firm Byblos Group is going to do business in Beirut, in owner Simon Hoayek's native country. He is counting on Sami el-Hoyek, a former Lebanese Armed Forces general, to get the new branch off the ground.

Spotlight
On the run from Mohammed bin Salman, King Abdullah's key arms broker finds refuge in Beirut

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's investigators are still on the hunt for Salah Fustok, the main negotiator of arms contracts with the National Guard under King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. The fugitive agent holds secrets about many Western defence companies' business dealings in Saudi Arabia.

Bahaa Hariri swaps CT Group for BGR to promote his political ambitions in Lebanon

A powerful businessman and son of the former prime minister murdered in 2005, Hariri will pay BGR $600,000 for a year's work. Lobbyists on the contract include Ed Rogers, a veteran of the Reagan and Bush Sr.

Lebanon's Selcom Marine interfaces with US and French shipyards

The well-connected Selwan family's company Selcom Marine brokered the sale of vessels from US company Safe Boats International to the Lebanese Army.