Raymond Edde; Lebanese Politician in Exile

Raymond Edde, 87, a Lebanese politician who spent 24 years in self-imposed exile in Paris after surviving three assassination attempts in his homeland. A Maronite Christian, Edde was a moderate who advocated coexistence with other political and religious groups in Lebanon. He represented the Byblos district north of Beirut in the Lebanese parliament from 1953 to 1976, except for a one-year absence in 1964. He ran unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 1958 and 1976 and had held various cabinet positions. Edde went into exile in 1976. He opposed all foreign interference in Lebanon, and said he would not return unless Israel and Syria withdrew their soldiers from southern Lebanon. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Edde went to Beirut in 1920, attending a Jesuit high school and university from which he received his law degree in 1934. His father, Emile Edde, served as Lebanon’s president from 1936 to 1941. Edde succeeded his father as head of the National Bloc. On Wednesday in Paris. The Lebanese embassy gave no cause of death.