Americas

Americas

Lebanese Arab saves US President Barack Obamaâ€™s life - PHOTO

Lebanese Arab saves US President Barack Obamaâ€™s life - <font color=red>PHOTO</font>

18 February 2012 08:12 (UTC +04:00)

Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubayli â€“ APA Unpleasant incident took place during Novemberâ€™s G20 summit in Cannes, France last year. French journalists at the daily Nice Matin recently revealed that an even more dramatic mistake happened the day before when an American FBI agent left a confidential file on the US President Barack Obamaâ€™s visit at the counter of a local Lebanese restaurant.
â€œIt was a really normal-looking binder,â€ said Bilal Herche, the manager of the restaurant â€œAl Charqâ€. â€œI opened it to see and it was then that I understood instantly that it was something crazy.â€ The file contained a detailed plan of the 5th floor of the Carlton Hotel, where the American president was supposed to stay during the G20. It also included details on each of his routes, starting with his arrival at the Nice Airport all the way up to his departure.
Unsure what to do next, the restaurant manager finally found the telephone number for the FBI on the internet. He called and finally managed to convince the agent on the other side of the Atlantic that he was telling the truth by reading the first page of the binder. As soon as he finished reading, Herche said the American agentâ€™s response was immediate: â€œDonâ€™t move. Weâ€™re on our way.â€ The young man didnâ€™t even need to give the FBI his address. They had already traced his cell phone and two agents arrived in his restaurant minutes later. Upon reading the file, one couldnâ€™t keep from saying â€œOh, my God,â€ according to Herche. The agents grilled Herche, trying to figure out who could have left behind such a document. They also wanted to know if he had made photocopies. The two agents returned every day during the G20 to eat lunch in Hercheâ€™s restaurant.
Herche, for his part, received the FBI Medal of Honor.