International community needs to strengthen Lebanon support, says UN chief
SMA NEWS – BEIRUT
The international community needs to strengthen its support to Lebanon to overcome the country’s current “very difficult circumstances,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in Beirut on Monday.
Guterres also said Lebanon needed proper accountability for last year’s port explosion and that elections due to be held next year could usher in political stability in the country.
His comments followed a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and a visit to the port, where he laid a wreath at a memorial for the hundreds who died when chemicals stored at the facility for nearly seven years exploded.
Guterres was keen to record his observations on the second day of his official visit to Lebanon.
He said that only the Lebanese could solve Lebanese problems, and he renewed his call for political leaders “to come together” to overcome divisions.
He inspected the blast site for the first time, reviewing the damage to the port and its surroundings, despite the stormy and rainy weather.
A minute’s silence was observed in front of a plaque honoring victims of the explosion.
In notes distributed by his media office, the secretary-general said he visited the port to pay tribute to the victims who had lost their lives and to express his solidarity to the wounded and their families.
“I know the suffering and I know the will of the people to know the truth. The will of the people is to have proper accountability and I want to express my very deep solidarity to all the victims of that tragedy.”
His day included an extensive meeting with representatives of international bodies and organizations, chaired by Guterres and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Arab News learned that the importance of the meeting stemmed from its conclusion that the efforts of UN agencies “must coordinate with each other on the ground in order to produce more effective work.”
Guterres said that Mikati confirmed “the government’s commitment to conduct negotiations with the IMF and its commitment to carry out a number of necessary administrative and financial reforms” to promote economic recovery.
