Marlene

Broken-hearted celebrity chef evacuated from Lebanon
20 Jul 2006 21:09:34 GMT
Source: Reuters
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Background
Lebanon crisis
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
More ON BOARD THE USS NASHVILLE, July 20 (Reuters) - Lying on a green army cot as a U.S. navy ship spirits him away from violence-stricken Lebanon, American television food show host Anthony Bourdain says his heart is broken.

Bourdain, whose show "Anthony Bourdain -- No Reservations" takes him around the world to experience new culture and cuisine, was shooting an episode in Beirut before the outbreak of violence that is threatening to spiral out of control.

"We'd been hearing great things about Beirut and arrived and quickly fell in love with the country," he told Reuters.

"It was paradise, sort of the western dream of the way we'd all like the Middle East to be -- enlightened, progressive, multi-cultural, and multi-religious."

But after two days of eating and drinking, the experience went sour on July 12 when he and his new Lebanese friends heard gunfire from Hizbollah militants celebrating the abduction of two Israeli soldiers.

The capture has since led to a bloody exchange of Israeli air strikes in Lebanon and Hezbollah rocket attacks in Israel.

At least 311 Lebanese and 29 Israelis have died in the violence. Many countries have criticised Israel's air strikes as too severe as they have also devastated infrastructure in the Arab state, forced the evacuation of thousands of foreigners and driven tens of thousands of Lebanese from their homes.

"I was in love for two days and had my heart broken on the third," Bourdain said.

On the ship's deck the atmosphere was calm. Hundreds of families slept or huddled close on cots and in tents as children played with toys provided by the soldiers.

But Bourdain said his efforts to leave Lebanon had not been easy, frustrated by unanswered telephone calls to the embassy and a "horror show" at a beach outside Beirut where they had gathered before U.S. Navy and marines whisked 1,052 Americans to the ship by landing craft and then on to nearby Cyprus.

"At the checkpoints, it was like a Metallica concert gone horribly wrong," he said. "It was a mob scene."

Bourdain said the rapidly escalating violence had destroyed a blossoming city that had finally begun to emerge as a vibrant, democratic cultural hotspot after a civil war and the subsequent political influence of neighbouring Syria.

"I feel this awful sense of regret that we were never able to show Beirut as it was," he said. "To see everyone's hopes die and watch the country dismantled piece by piece was very painful. I'm very angry and very frustrated."

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