Businessman Mockingly Retracts Statement About Offering $25 Billion To Rebuild Beirut
The tweet that circulated and went viral in seconds among Lebanese residents as of Saturday, and picked up by the news , including us at The961, was in fact a big lie from the businessman.
Ahmed Al-Sarraf wrote on his social media account Twitter:
“I phoned nine of the biggest leaders of Lebanon, some of them ministers. I offered to donate 25 billion dollars to treat electricity 24/7 for all of Lebanon, repair roads, compensate the affected people, drinking water, and what follows? In exchange for their resignation and refusal… The majority rejected the offer!"
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Ahmed Al Sarraf, a Kuwaiti former banker and businessman, mockingly clarified his tweet the next day.
He tweeted: "The people who believed I contacted 9 of the leaders of Lebanon and offered to resign, but they refused, are the same ones who believed that the Ottomans built wheat silos in Lebanon 200 years ago!"
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Truth is, people believed him not because of the mentioned tale of the Ottomans, which is a first-heard to most in Lebanon, especially the youth. The people believed him for two main reasons:
One, until that tweet, he was a recognized businessman, hence deemed reliable (not anymore though).
Two, the Lebanese people have suffered so much and so long from the ruling officials that Al-Sarraf's statement sounded unsurprising to them, knowing how many of the ruling officials are hanging on to their seats as if their lives depend on it.
In a time of national sorrow and anger, when the people got just hit by a horrific explosion and are living the nightmarish aftermath, when so many lost their lives and loved ones, and people are protesting in the streets, many not so calmly, Al-Sarraf fake announcement was not only insensitive but deceptive and inciting.
This isn't the time for jokes when the nation is deeply ailing.
One thing for sure, any statement and/or story coming from the businessman now onward will be deemed unreliable.