France to host new international conference on Lebanon on Beirut blast anniversary
SMA NEWS – BEIRUT
One day after premier designate Saad Hariri gave up trying to form a government, the French foreign ministry announced Friday President Emmanuel Macron will host a new international conference on Lebanon next month on the first anniversary of the Beirut port explosion.
Lebanese political sources told The Arab Weekly that the French announcement reflects the exasperation of Paris over the failure of Lebanon’s leaders to end a political and economic crisis that dates back to well before the explosion.
Hariri stepped down Thursday, saying he was unable to form a government, nine months after accepting the challenge and as the country sinks deeper into crisis.
Macron will organise the international conference on August 4 with the help of the United Nations, “to respond to the needs of the Lebanese whose situation is deteriorating every day,” it said in a statement.
