Frances Guy

Diplomats' holidays

Not quite busmen's holidays. In fact I reckon diplomats largely do what others have the privilege of being able to do most of the year.. visit their relatives. So I am no exception. I am pleased to have the delight of 4 weeks absence to take my kids to Scotland and France to visit family and friends and forget a little the political trauma of Lebanon. I hope to return refreshed and invigorated.. the winds from the Atlantic will help. I will not immediately return to blogging though. I think you probably need a break from me and a chance to explore others' thoughts and activities. If Lebanon hits the headlines again, I might be back. Meanwhile pray that calm continues and the Lebanese government gets a chance to take some real decisions that might improve people's daily lives.

Posted at 09:44 07 August 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[8]

Summer Festivals (3) Bizarre - A Mexican diva at Baalbeck

Baalbeck, the heart of the Beka'a, Lebanon's contrasts exposed. The Baalbeck festival opens to an international audience in the temple of Bacchus. The President is there with a number of cabinet ministers but it is the poster of Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hizballah that adorns the Roman entrance. Outside the Presidential guard vie for muscularity with the slightly shady looking types on motorbikes with walkie talkies. And yet it doesn't matter, you can't beat the scene. The Romans made their temples to provoke awe, to humble man before the Gods, even in a ruined state at dusk they are a marvel. The backdrop is there for any decent artist, and the temples are warm, Bacchus after all had a fun side, and even Baal would have approved of the idea of his temple being used for international culture. Astrid, a Mexican diva, of Lebanese parents, warms the audience with her baroque style, making us laugh at the globalisation of chauvinism, the Mexican relationship with Bush's America and her amazing costumes. Some of the high brow suggest the show is not appropriate for the opening of the festival. I think it is spot on, popular but not bawdy, fun, accomplished and international and the critics can say what they like but the two Ministers next to me enjoyed themselves thoroughly as did the rest of the audience, the President and his wife included. Viva Mexica, Viva Libano indeed.... and the guys on the motorbikes outside? I don't know but I rather wished Mika had come here too or maybe some other popular star - I'd like to see the guys outside, inside dancing in the aisles with the rest of them! for more on the Baalbeck festival check out www.baalbeck.org.lb

Posted at 10:43 04 August 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[1]

Army Day 1 August

Diplomats also get invited to parades. Luckily in Lebanon we don't have too many of these. Indeed this is the first army day for 3 years because of recent summer strife. So we get to celebrate the graduation of two years of officers. The army give the graduation class special names. 2007 is the class of the national will (the year of the fight against terrorists in Nahr el Bared) and 2008 is the class of Francois el Haj (the senior officer assassinated last December - he ought to have been the new Commander in Chief). There are families of the dead in the crowd as well as proud families of the young officers. The poor soldiers have to stand nearly 3 hours in the hot sun. The diplomats sitting in the stand in the shade are hot enough but we can't complain. The President makes another of his well judged speeches and clearly enjoys himself, remembering his own graduation in 1979. But this is not a military parade as such. There is no fly past apart from a few helicopters (the Lebanese Army has no planes -how can we talk about strengthening this national institution when they have no equipment - literally)and there are no tanks or other hardware on show. At the end they let off red, green and white balloons. If this wasn't a country of strife it would be touching, but the army needs more than balloons.

Posted at 09:17 04 August 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[1]

The Cocktail circuit

Ferrero-Rocher did diplomats no favours with their adverts. Even my own kids think it funny.  But the round of national days is surprisingly productive.  Each one has their own range of invited guests - those at the Egyptian national day are slightly different from the Moroccan etc.   At each you can meet new people, open new horizons and reinforce relationships with those you haven't had time to call on but with whom 5 minutes at a reception is time well spent. Others get a chance to vent their anger at British policy without having to cause offence by doing it in your office! It is work, despite the adverts - and no there is not always champagne and chocolates to make it easier to work the room.  Usually I come away from such events with at least two follow up meetings, sometimes some ideas for new projects or visits and some new ideas about the political situation.  Last night all the politicians and those close to politicians were predicting that the long-awaited ministerial statement would finally be agreed.  That made for positive encounters even amongst those on different sides of the political spectrum. This morning it seems that optimism was ill-placed which is perturbing.  Moral of the story: beware of what you hear at cocktail parties !!

Posted at 07:23 31 July 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[0]

27 July Summer festivals (2) Mika takes Beirut

If  you have teenage kids like me you will have heard of Mika. What many of us parents didn't realise until this week was that he was born in Beirut and now lives in the UK.  He opened the Baalbeck festival from the heart of downtown Beirut on Sunday night with a razzmatazz pop show which filled the city.  I had the privilege of watching it all from a nearby rooftop and my daughter was left to bop down below without interfering parents.  This place in the heart of Beirut has been the scene of mass demonstrations of all sorts, but many associated with tragedy.   Tonight it was filled with singing, laughter and teenage screams.  It was fun and showed what Beirut can be...  And it was great that Baalbeck and Beit ed Din decided to put on a show for a teenage audience.  But I can't help thinking that he should also be performing in Sports City at the other end of town... will the country ever be united in its joy as well as its tragedy?

Posted at 16:02 28 July 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[0]

26 July Summer Festivals in Lebanon (1)

The summer sees three main music festivals in Lebanon: in Byblos, Beit ed Din and Baalbeck.  In 2006 and 2007 the festivals were not held because of war and other troubles. This year they are pulling themselves together again. Byblos opened a few weeks ago with the President in the audience and Patti Smith on stage. For old rockers the setting was a dream with the back drop of a castle on the Mediterranean.  I have had the pleasure of going to Beit ed Din twice this last week; once for a jazz concert, once for a display of Tango from Argentina.  Again the setting is amazing: a nineteenth century palace in the mountains.  Just the windy road to get there through spectacular scenery is worthwhile.  The highlight of the Tango was not the show itself but the meal afterwards in a local hotel. The Argentinian dancers were challenged by a local girl to dance to Arabic tunes - they hesitated at first but their dancing instincts got the better of them.  The rest of the diners (myself included) were then treated to what can only be described as an Arabic Tango followed by an Argentinian Debka.   We clapped and roared with the best.   Cross-cultural indeed.

Posted at 15:32 28 July 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[0]

Chevening Scholarships

The British Council in Lebanon recently ran a survey to test public knowledge of the Council and what it does. One of the questions asked about scholarships.  Regrettably very few of those asked knew that the British Government runs any scholarship programmes in Lebanon.  We have decided therefore to launch a campaign to increase knowledge and to improve the quality of candidates applying.  In fact, as in many countries of the world, the Embassy runs a small scholarship programme for post-graduate studies called Chevening scholarships.   This year we are sending four students on a range of courses - two to London and two to Leeds.   We host a small reception so that former students can meet the new ones and give them tips.  This is always useful, Brits just don't understand how impossible to comprehend some of our habits are! Lebanese are on the whole worldly wise but even some of them had found the first few weeks very difficult.   I also have the Ambassadorial pleasure of handing out some certificates to returning fellows (these are people in mid-career who have attended specialised three month courses - we are looking for more candidates for those too!).  Everyone is happy. Everyone thinks British education is great.   Makes you want to do more to promote it.

Posted at 13:23 23 July 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[2]

July 17 - Al farabi.

Oh wonderful world of coincidences.   Nearly four years ago during my last job Oliver Butterworth from Musicstage Productions came to talk to me about an idea he had for a project to bring Arabic composers into the European classical music circuit. This was more than other East meets West projects.  More about showing to the elite of the West their Eastern counterparts, exposing the latter to the European classical music scene and bringing in some new dimensions.   Tonight I meet Hiba al Kawas,   diva of Lebanon who has recently returned from the first of the Al Farabi concerts at the Cadogan hall.   Thing is I didn't know I was coming to her house until a few hours before and she had no idea that I knew all about Oliver and his inspiring ideas.  She sings for guests in her garden.. a new idea of heaven in Lebanon. 

Posted at 13:53 21 July 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[2]

July 16 - exchange of prisoners

Just over two years, 1200 Lebanese lives, about 200 Israeli lives, 90 destroyed bridges (mostly rebuilt except the biggest), a number of destroyed factories (many closed down), one rocky economy, two countries in political crises, and the two kidnapped soldiers about whom the war in 2006 ostensibly started, are returned in sombre black coffins to Israel under the supervision of the International Red Cross.    On the Lebanese side the crowds wait for hours in the hot sun for a sight of the five freed Lebanese prisoners.  All the politicians gather at the airport to join in the heroes' return.  Difficult to swallow entirely a hero who the Israelis accuse of bludgeoning a four year old to death. But there are too many innocent Lebanese children who died ( I think of that whole family in Qana) and too many innocent Palestinian children who keep dying for that to resonate too much in the Arab conscience.  Still it sticks in the throat a bit.    Something macabre too about the row of nearly 200 coffins covered in flags - Palestinian and Lebanese. 
But the positive side is that another part of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 has just been fulfilled with this prisoner exchange.  One excuse for further conflict has been removed.   And in Lebanon we rejoice that celebratory gunfire has been replaced by celebratory fireworks.  The noise is still a bit frightening when gunfire has been so recent but the reality is soothing.  As are all the conciliatory words the politicians have started to use....  

Posted at 13:35 21 July 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[0]

14 July - Second step on the Doha agreement: vive La France!

Just as I dared agree to shutting down our computer system for an essential back up on 11 July, the new government in Lebanon was announced.  So London had to make do with what I could send via yahoo.  Not much wrong with that really - initial comments are hardly secret.  And what a wonderful Lebanese compromise: something in this government for everyone if they can prove the doubters wrong and work together.   A spirit of positivism takes to the air.  The President goes to Paris to attend the Union of the Mediterranean summit and he and the Syrian President agree to an exchange of embassies. This will be historically very significant - if it happens.  Syria has not really recognised Lebanon's independence since it was declared in 1943.  Some remain unconvinced - we have had promises from the Syrians before - we would like to see a bit of delivery. 

Forgive me too if I am a little sceptical about the Union of the Mediterranean.  Having been the UK's representative on the Euro-med committee (Barcelona process), I am well aware of the massive potential of the partnership compared to the grinding reality of how difficult it is to get Arab partners to agree to work in fora where the Israelis are present.  When we held a summit in Barcelona in 2005 under the UK Presidency of the EU working in partnership with Spain, we didn't manage to entice quite the full range of leaders that Sarkozy achieved this weekend.  So good on him.   But then we did try something else - to allow the voice of civil society to be heard on equal terms with government leaders.  It was a struggle and many officials were not comfortable and the achievement was very limited. But I am glad we tried. I did not see any civil society leaders, NGOs or businessmen in evidence in Paris..

 Dear Mr President, don't throw this small achievement away - the Euro-Mediterranean space should be one of dialogue and openness.

Posted at 15:01 15 July 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[3]

What I get paid for

It has been a hard week so far.  I have had to explain to staff that from November we will be essentially moving our visa operation out of the Embassy.  From 6 staff working in that section now, we will have one in future. It is a particularly difficult blow to deliver just at the peak of the visa season - in the summer - when numbers of applications double and the section is under a lot of stress. I try to explain that redundancy will be offered on a voluntary basis throughout the Embassy ie NOT simply in visa section. But it is not clear that everyone has understood.  So I will have to keep explaining.

And then on 2 July the Home Secretary placed an order in the House of Commons seeking to proscribe the military wing of Hizballah. Of course I knew it was coming but was not sure when and hadn't quite expected the decision to be taken so quickly. I needed to tell the top politicians and explain that this is about Hizballah's actions in training and helping insurgents in Iraq NOT about Lebanon. But they were concerned. And then we gave a local press conference to make sure that local journalists presented the issue as accurately as possible. I was ill-prepared having not had the Arabic script more than a few minutes in advance. And my eye-sight is getting too poor to read small script in any case.. and we didn't have a lectern...  no excuses but it wasn't as slick a presentation as I would have liked. Still we succeeded I think in achieving our objective to ensure that we set the terms of the debate and that the words were not distorted. Later in the afternoon Nasrallah brushed the measure aside as what might have been expected from a state that helped set up Israel (thus deftly avoiding the point about training terrorists in Iraq!). Others query the timing. I try to explain the exigencies of our parliamentary process...   There will be more to do on this over the next few weeks. 

Posted at 12:42 03 July 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[13]

Religion and politics

Religion and politics in Lebanon are intertwined. Often this is exacerbating. When you come from a largely secular state (apart from a few bishops in the House of Lords and the role of the monarchy as head of the Church) getting your head round a state built on a confessional system is difficult. Part of the problems of forming a government arise from the need to balance the competing needs of opposing political movements with the need to maintain a confessional balance inside the Cabinet. And then there are lots of myths about which key jobs have "traditionally" been with which confession - most of which turn out to be nonsense. Which makes you realise that someone with political will could break some of this confessional trap if they tried.  But this week I took some solace from visiting some religious representatives.  Because these men of religion actually talk about "Lebanon" and the need to rise above party and confessional interests to preserve the state and its independence. I wish the politicians would do a bit more of the same. 

Posted at 12:36 03 July 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[2]

The variety of life in Lebanon

Just a taste of this week which demonstrates both the extremes of Lebanon and the range of diplomatic life.

Tuesday Aley - European cup football
Aley was the scene of some fighting between Hizballah and the local Druze population at the beginning of May - less than 6 weeks ago.  My husband is showing the European cup qualifying matches on his giant screen in different towns throughout the country.  The local council is enthusiastic to have an opportunity to bring the youth together around sport to forget some of the recent troubles. So I go in support and to see a bit what the atmosphere is like in this tourist town so recently the scene of fighting.  The site is full - mostly Italian supporters. I haven't really understood why the Lebanese support the Italians but they are popular- something of a kindred mediterranean spirit.   I sit next to the mayor.  He is acting the benevolent local politician - saying hello to everyone - kids, adults, visiting tourists.  Only later does he tell me that he was shot in the back in May when trying to negotiate with Hizballah during the attack on Aley.  I am gob-smacked.  So close to total paralysis now acting as though all that is long behind him and looking forward to a good tourist season as long as a government is formed quickly.   Phew. You need to be mentally tough to be a politician in Lebanon.

Thursday - Caritas work in a detention centre for foreigners.
Human rights issues are not often a high priority in this country of political intrigue and fast moving events.  One  issue that has been burning for a while is the treatment of domestic workers. There are too many cases of suicides amongst maids, mainly Ethiopian, and too many cases of severe mistreatment, including beatings, burnings and non-payment of salaries.  In extremis these women who have come to earn some money to support their families back home, run away. Then they are left without papers.  In Beirut 2 floors below a car park, under a flyover which I take often on the way to work, there are 500 foreigners in detention waiting for their papers to be sorted so that they can leave the country or be made legal. Half of them are women.  The women are mostly domestic workers from Ethiopia, Philipinnes and Sri Lanka.  The men include Egyptians and Iraqis.  They are not in prison. Some of them have already served prison sentences for being illegally in the country. They are in theory in transit  but some of them have been in this place for more than 9 months.  The place is airless, under the ground with no sunlight, no access to any place of exercise, only enough water for a shower every 3 days.  Some despair, try to commit suicide, mutilate themselves.  Caritas are doing a great job offering support in all sorts of ways, including three cooked meals a week.  The guards are doing their best but they are under-staffed and under-trained.  They ask to go to the UK to look at how we deal with the same problems.  I think of over-crowded detention centres and Iraqis and Somalis committing suicide in the UK and wonder if we really have anything positive to demonstrate.  I agree to do some homework.  But what they all need - guards and detainees alike - is a new place of detention with access to the outside.  A disused school somewhere... I don't know of anything precise of course, and like any country if it is too nice the local population will complain that foreigners are being treated better than they are. But these cages under the ground are not fit for humans. It must be possible to do something.  I agree to meet with Caritas to see what the Embassy can do to help them. But I agree also to see what pressure the EU might be able to bring to raise consciousness at least amongst Lebanese politicians. How many of them have visited?

Friday - charity ball for Skoun - anti-drugs campaign
All the best of Beirut society in one grand garden. Something strange about such grandeur being a means of raising money for a charity.  But it does. The food is donated, the drinks are donated, the musicians are paid for. Different companies have paid for different tables at $250 a ticket with more than 600 guests that is $150,000.  Better than having to put together project proposals for $10,000 for lots of official donors!  The dresses are incredible. As someone says though they could raise more money just donating the dresses and jewellery of all the ladies present!  But I suppose that is true of many such charity events all round the world.  And the money is going to a good cause which the Embassy has supported in the past so I am not just there to be seen! Like many though we don't stay too long the contrast with the day before is a bit too much for me.

Posted at 12:00 21 June 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[1]

Getting out of Beirut

After the top level visitors it was a breath of fresh air to get out of Beirut on 12 June and go as far north as I could to visit a small project in a village in Akar. Akar is among the poorest areas of Lebanon.  The land is rocky and not much grows apart from olives.  The Syrian border is close and it is easier to get to Homs in Syria than it is to Tripoli in Lebanon. When I asked the villagers what people "do" in the village, they replied we join the army. I knew this before intellectually but it is a different thing to be confronted with it. On army pay they earn enough "not to live (splendidly) and not to die (in misery)" as one of them put it. Lives are simple but not unpleasant. The air is fresh, everyone has their own olives and olive oil. The school, where we had the small project with UNDP, is offering some classes in English and computers for the community. One of the women who offered us lunch was pleased with her new skills. And the army gives people a sense of loyalty - a profound loyalty to the nation that I had not truly met in Lebanon up until that point. I am no military person and have no family in the armed forces although clearly at work I have come across many of Britain's finest soldiers. But I was touched by this loyalty and the total lack of any complaint about anything. It is common in all walks of life these days to hear complaints about rising prices, about politicians, about the British legacy etc etc.. Here were men who had lost friends, been severely wounded - at least one we met had lost a leg -but they thanked us for coming to visit and thanked the EU for helping provide an olive press and didn't complain. No wonder President Sleiman has some faith in the future when this is the calibre of people he has been working with throughout his life. Diplomats really do need to get out and about to understand

Posted at 19:40 14 June 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[0]

Queen's Birthday party

One of the highlights of the year from an Embassy's point of view is the Queen's birthday party.  According to instructions it should be held in the week before or after the official birthday of Her Majesty on the second Saturday of June.   Last year we had to cancel all plans in the light of a series of assassinations in Beirut and the on-going fighting in Nahr el Bared. This year we decided in April to try and organise a large celebration in the grounds of the Sursock palace - one of the remaining grand houses in Beirut with a splendid garden.  In May when violence broke out I admit to thinking that we would have to cancel again.   The Doha agreement was signed just in time for us to manage to get out invitations and arrange caterers, sponsors and music. 

So we had our big celebration on 10 June. The setting was perfect. The evening was pleasantly warm.  The guests showed up. Everyone who came seemed to appreciate it.  We were able to thank our contacts and promote the UK.

I was a bit nervous about my speech however short. The Arabic part was fine (more or less) but I had to resort to reading my quote from Shakespeare.   My thoughts for Lebanese politicians from the Merchant of Venice:

"They are as sick that surfeit with too much as they that starve with nothing.  It is no mean happiness therefore, to be seated in the mean: superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer. "

My appeal to competency was well received although I am not sure everyone understood the rest of the quote.  Regrettably there is not yet any sign of a national unity government so recommending competency is possibly irrelevant.  Still Shakespeare in a summer's garden goes down well. 

Posted at 15:54 11 June 2008 by Frances Guy  |  Comments[0]