DETROIT – The Ministry of Lebanon’s Foreign Affairs and Emigrants appointed an acting Consul General to head its Consulate General office in Detroit. Mr. Houssam Assad Diab left his position in Lebanon as the head of the Arab Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants to assume his new temporary position as acting Counsel General of Lebanon in Detroit. A new permanent consul general will be appointed after Lebanon’s new government is formed.

Mr. Houssam Assad Diab

Lebanon has one Embassy based in Washington, D.C., and three Consulate General offices in the United States, New York,  Los Angeles and Detroit; each consulate covers a specific region. The Detroit Consulate General covers the following states: Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Missouri, and Kansas.

Mr. Diab began work in his new role earlier this month. He has two Bachelor’s degrees, one in science and the other in arts from American University in Beirut.  He earned his law degree from Lebanese University in Beirut and his LLM in Finance Law from American University in Washington D.C. He is fluent in English, Arabic and French.

From June 2008 to Jan. 2010, Mr. Diab assumed the position of the Consul General of Lebanon in Los Angeles. Prior to that he was the deputy director of the Department of International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants where he led the cultural affairs section. He also worked as an advisor to the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants in Lebanon. Also, among the other positions he assumed was Deputy Chief of Mission of the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations.

Mr. Diab is the son of the late judge, Lebanese Cabinet member, head of Lebanese University and Lebanon Supreme Council member Dr. Assad Diab who passed away last year. Mr. Diab is from the city of Shmustar in the Baalbeck region.  Mr. Bashir Tawk had served as Acting Consulate General  after moving into the vacant position from his original position as a consul. He will continue to work as a consul.