Lebanese President Emil Lahhoud has decorated Egyptian director Yousef Shahin with the Lebanese National Cedars medallion in appreciation of his artwork and role in enriching Arab culture and art, according to the daily Al Ahram.
Shahin was honored during a public and official ceremony held in the Lebanese town of Zehleh.
Lebanese Minister of Culture Ghassan Salameh decorated the prominent director with the medallion during the ceremony, which was attended by Druze leader Walid Junbulat and a number of Lebanese members of Parliament including Bahiyyah Al Hariri.
For his part, Shahin personally unveiled a plaque engraved with his name, which was presented to a street in Lebanese city where he was born.
The London-based daily Al Sharq Al Awsat described the return of the director to his birthplace as touching, painting a scene of him weeping on Hariri’s shoulders, whose tears were mixed with laughter.
As soon as Shahin sat at the table to have lunch, he reportedly felt breathless, which prompted his doctors to hurriedly give him a tablet to calm his heart.
Zaleh also honored the prominent Arab poet Ahmed Shawki and musician Mohammed Abdel Wahhab, who together sang the poem Ya Jarat Al Wadi on the banks of Bardouni River – Albawaba.com
