Fighting for Western Values

Amin Gemayel talks about his country and its neighbors

He had spent the afternoon in the besieged mountain town of Suq al Gharb. His head bare, his sleeves rolled up and his flak jacket worn with an almost sporty air, the young President was the fighting image of his embattled country. He told his troops that for the first time "Mohammed and Antoine were behind the same barricade." The Muslim and Christian names that President Amin Gemayel so deftly joined are symbols of what makes Lebanon unique in the Arab world, while the word barricade was a reference to what has often divided this most contentious of nations. After his return to the presidential palace outside Beirut, Gemayel spoke at length with TIME'S Middle East bureau chief, William Stewart. It was his first interview with any U.S. publication in the year since he took office. Stewart's report:

As we drove up the winding road to the palace for our 10:30 p.m. appointment, the sky suddenly lit up with a great red flash, followed by the roar of big guns. The troops that normally stand guard along the road were in their bunkers. A quick telephone call from the guardpost to the palace confirmed that we were expected, and our car moved on, its lights out. The front entrance of the huge presidential residence, however, was ablaze with light, though even this semblance of normality was shattered by a sudden explosion. Incoming artillery. We dashed inside to be greeted by an imperturbable usher dressed in a blue bomber jacket. "We've had worse," he noted as he called the President's office.

Sheik Amin, as he is known, was sitting alone in his library, a large, comfortable room with red leather furniture and a grand piano. He likes classical music, particularly Beethoven and Wagner, and has had a small music room built beside the palace tennis court. Amin has not been able to play tennis, his favorite sport, for more than three weeks now, and he misses the exercise. Tonight he is in his casual clothes: an open-neck shirt, windbreaker, slacks and black loafers. The trip to the front has been exhausting, but he is lit up, his color high.

A steward brings whisky and soda as Amin reflects on his first year in office. "Every day has been like a year," he says. "Events have not made it easy on me. I've had important responsibilities before, as an M.P. and a member of the [Phalange] party politburo. Then there was the war between the Lebanese militias and the Palestinians." He pauses and runs his hand through his glossy black hair. Like many Lebanese Christians, the President does not consider that Lebanon ever had a civil war. He mentions two great disasters of the 1975-76 war, the destruction of the Palestinian refugee camp at Tel Zaatar and an equally horrifying massacre at Karantina. Then he continues: "Now it is much more difficult. We have foreign armies here: the Israelis, the Syrians and the P.L.O., always the P.L.O. It has been a year of 'to be or not to be.' We have to face two very strong Middle Eastern countries, Israel and Syria, not to mention Iran and Libya. They are strong, and so is their cupidity. [Syria and Israel] are here under the pretext that Lebanon is vital to their security."

Amin is interrupted by a loud explosion. There is the unmistakable sound of machine-gun and small-arms fire. By this time we have been joined by Wadi Haddad, the President's national security adviser. He goes to the window, looks out and then returns. No one has made a move for the shelter, where the army has been forcing the President to spend each night.

Amin resumes: "It's been like this since August. I've grown used to it, but I miss my family. Yesterday 1 went to Bikfaya [the Gemayels' village in the mountain district northeast of Beirut]. It was another world. Did you know my house there had been shelled? My wife was in the room next to where the shell exploded. But of course I can't bring them here. I don't know if any President in the world has been in such a situation."

We talk briefly about the cease-fire negotiations. Then Amin leans forward and, chopping the air for emphasis, he says, "Our target is not the ceasefire. We want one, but it is not our goal. Everyone needs the cease-fire now. It may be destructive for us, but it is for them too. The goal is the withdrawal of all foreign forces. The battle in the mountains has had two aspects. In one sense it has been a sideshow to prevent Lebanon from asking for complete [foreign] withdrawal. In another, I think they wanted to come into Beirut and overthrow the government. Without the army at Suq al Gharb they would have done it. Our army is really only five months old. No one expected them to do so well. I want to tell them, 'You are the most beautiful example for the nation.' "

Amin reminisces about his time as a militia leader, when he was wounded three times. But he quickly drops the subject, turning instead to the future: "Maybe we have to renew our national system to take into account our pluralism. Instead of dividing, it can unite. I am ambitious about this goal. I think that I will be able to find the right formula. This is the raison d'etre of Lebanon, isn't it? To create this important laboratory for the region. How can you bring Muslims and Jews together in the Middle East if the Lebanese formula for coexistence fails? In Switzerland there are many ethnic groups that could not survive unless they survived together."

Amin was warming to his subject and moved to the edge of the sofa. "You have to know something. People here are attached to a liberal system. This is our national feeling, our genuine feeling. Right now, in Lebanon, Syrians are taking political hostages. You are obliged to collaborate, go underground or leave. Some 'emigrate to the other world' [a grim allusion to assassination]. Foreign intervention in Lebanon is the main problem for the U.S. here. People will back the government that backs a liberal system. We are sincere and genuine in saying that we are talking about the survival of democracy in Lebanon. We are fighting for values, values we have in common with the West. This is what the Syrians want to destroy. Despite what they have stolen from Lebanon, destroyed in Lebanon, siphoned off from Lebanon, the Lebanese pound is still stronger than the Syrian pound, and they can't stand it. Let me tell you, others may try to eat Lebanon, but they will never be able to digest it. You can't govern Lebanon as a dictator. It just won't work."

The talk is interrupted by an important telephone call. Amin answers and listens glumly. Haddad is at the other end of the room on an extension. He too is expressionless. The shells are still exploding outside as the President finally excuses himself, moving to the door with an almost boyish gait. It is midnight, but there is still work to do. . This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.