Habre flees Lebanon, upset with TT Govt

He said they left Lebanon in such a hurry they did not have sufficient time to go to his Lebanese bank to withdraw money, and had to borrow to pay for their tickets to London and TT. He said they are now staying at his sister-in-law’s home in Petit Valley, but wasn’t sure how much longer she could accommodate them.

“We have nothing. We left everything in Lebanon. We didn’t even have time to take our clothes. We have to buy clothes here,” a distressed Habre told Newsday.

Habre said he came to TT in 1975, married a Trinidadian, by the name of Angela, and lived here for 25 years. He said they owned and operated Habre’s Men’s Fashion on Henry Street, Port-of-Spain, until they returned to Lebanon in 2000.

Recounting the hard time he had leaving Lebanon Habre said, “We left last Friday on the British ship for Cyprus. But when we reached Cyprus, the British said they weren’t looking after us anymore. They put us in a shed and put their citizens on a plane.”

Habre said they bought their own tickets to London with the little money they had.

“When we reached London, I contacted my sister-in-law, Dianne Moses, and she told me that the TT Government was helping nationals return home.”

Moses said that she was the one who encouraged the Habres to leave Lebanon, telling them that the TT Government would help them. “I even called the Foreign Affairs Ministry and spoke to communications officer, Cheryl Moses, and told her about my brother-in-law’s situation,” Moses (D) said.

Habre said Colin Connelly, first secretary to the TT High Commission in London, called him and was very nice.

“He told me he was waiting on word from Trinidad to see what he could do to assist us. I was told to stay in London, I would get help to come to Trinidad.”

In the meantime, with nowhere to stay, Habre said he and Angela checked into a guesthouse for which they paid hundreds of pounds per night from Saturday to Monday.

“Monday evening, I still had no word from Connelly and called him again,” Habre recalled. “But he still didn’t get word from the Foreign Affairs Ministry here. If I had to stay one more night in London, I would have had to beg for food and lodging the next day.”

Habre said in desperation, he borrowed money from a friend in London to buy tickets to Trinidad, which cost US $1,500 each.

“It was on the plane back home that I saw a newspaper article about how the TT Government was helping nationals trapped in London to return home. I was surprised. I saw nothing of the kind,” a hurt Habre said.

“The Indians, Sri Lankans, British and Americans in Lebanon were all evacuated, free of charge. But it was like Angela and I were nobodies.”

Moses added, “The TT Government lapsed. They were on television saying how they were helping nationals return home.”

Habre said in Lebanon they lived in the central part of Beirut.