The M1 holding company owned by former Lebanese prime minister Nagib Mikati and his brother Taha has bought the Burmese subsidiary of the Norwegian company Telenor for 105 million dollars.
This sale would be induced by the current situation in Burma where a military coup d’etat put an end to the democratic experiment after having overthrown the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, on February 1st. This operator has seen its activities reduced, its network being widely used by the opposition to the military.
They now fear that the Lebanese company will agree to deliver certain critical data to the military junta while the operation of the network has been suspended since March 15. The military would also demand the establishment of a telecommunications monitoring program.
M1 is already present in Burma via Irrawaddy Green Towers (IGT). It is already cooperating with the military.
Former Prime Minister Nagib Mikati is regularly implicated in Lebanon in connection with certain financial affairs. He would have thus benefited from loans intended for economically vulnerable people to finance the purchase of certain real estate in Beirut via the Audi Bank of which he owns a large share of shares. Since the investigation led by judge Ghada Aoun continues its course, even if they refute any financial fraud. It was also the subject of an investigation launched by the European Parliament as part of investigations into the possible misappropriation of funds intended to build a waste reprocessing unit in northern Lebanon. Finally, his bodyguards threatened with weapons demonstrators who were near his home a few months ago, still in Tripoli in northern Lebanon.