Interview with Ambassador Antoine Chedid to the Washington Diplomat

After six months without a president, Lebanon finally got one: Michel Suleiman. And after a year without a credentialed ambassador in Washington, Lebanon finally has one of those too: Antoine Chedid.

It's no coincidence that Chedid — who has effectively headed the Lebanese Embassy here for one year — presented his credentials to President Bush on June 6, not even two weeks after Suleiman was sworn into office.

"We had a severe political crisis. For six months, the country was without a president. But now, it's much better than before," Chedid told The Washington Diplomat on June 13, in his first media interview since formally becoming ambassador. "Thanks to the Doha agreement, things are back on track. All institutions are functioning normally, and we are now in the process of forming a national unity government. People are off the street, and we are talking to each other. The dialogue started in Doha and it is continuing in Lebanon."

"Let us unite and work toward a solid reconciliation," Suleiman said at his May 25 swearing-in ceremony. "We have paid dearly for our national unity. Let us preserve it hand in hand."

Chedid echoed similar sentiments, telling The Diplomat that "no Lebanese faction or party has any interest in another civil war. Now, the name of the game is dialogue. We are not on the streets. The new president has invited all parties to come to the presidential palace and start under his auspices to speak to each other. That will ensure we don't go back to a severe crisis…"

"Hezbollah is a political party and it's part of the political apparatus. They were members of the previous government and I'm sure they will be members of this new government," he says, adding that "Lebanon has a very delicate equilibrium, and we cannot play with it…"

A 56-year-old veteran diplomat from the town of Zahle, Chedid spent part of Lebanon's horrific civil war in Washington, Los Angeles and New York, and part of it in Beirut. He prefers not to discuss the war, which killed an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 people, commenting only that "those were really bad days we don't even want to think about."

After various U.S. postings in the 1980s and 1990s, Chedid was named Lebanon's ambassador to Greece, where he served for two years. In 2001, he became director of the Bureau of International Organizations, Conferences and Cultural Relations at Lebanon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a post he kept until 2007, when he was reassigned to Washington for his current job. Chedid is married to Nicole Saba (also from Zahle) and they have three children: Georges, Rhea and Anthony.

"This is the most important diplomatic post for any country, obviously for Lebanon and for me personally," the affable envoy says. "This embassy represents all Lebanese people, regardless of their political affiliation."

He adds: "Since I have known the U.S. for a long time and have served in many diplomatic posts here, it means a lot for me.We have excellent relations with a lot of countries, and over and above, with the United States…"

"We will be the last Arab country to start direct talks with Israel," Chedid declares. "Syria can do whatever it wants, but we are ruling out any direct or indirect contact with Israel for now — none whatsoever. When they solve the Palestinian problem and Syria and Israel solve their own problems, then we'll think about it."

The ambassador, noting that Lebanon is still home to 450,000 Palestinian refugees, added: "Every single day they continue to make airspace incursions over Lebanon, and we must still deactivate the mines and cluster bombs that Israel put on our lands. And we still have Lebanese detainees in Israel."

Chedid says, "Obviously, we follow what's going on in Israel — not only the politicians, but everyone in the street — because we are neighbors and we're affected by every Israeli decision."

Asked what might happen if Israeli voters replace the scandal-plagued and deeply unpopular Olmert with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who's less likely to push for peace talks with Lebanon, Chedid replied: "I don't have any comment on that. Whoever [in Israel] wants to implement this is their problem. All we care is that Israel is serious about the peace process and withdraws from all Arab territories…"

"Everybody in this city, and in this country, and in Israel and Syria, knows that the Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanon, and we have all kinds of historical documents to prove this," Chedid insists. "It has nothing to do with size. It's the principle."

In the meantime, Chedid's number-one challenge is running his embassy here in Washington — which has five diplomats and 20 local staffers — and encouraging foreign investment in his country, which was once known as the Switzerland of the Middle East for its peace and relative prosperity.

"We have an image problem, and that's one of my main concerns. People pretty much identify Lebanon with war. Little by little, we are trying to change this," he explains. "We are not a rich country, but we do intend to hire some PR firms to project a positive image about tourism and business opportunities in Lebanon."

"Lebanese businessmen love their country and want to invest there because they can make a lot of money, and because it has a lot of sentimental value," he says, estimating the Lebanese-American community at around 2 million. "But above all, we need stability. We don't want our people to emigrate from Lebanon. We want them to stay where they are."

http://www.washingtondiplomat.com/July%202008/a5_07_08b.html