The Asian Age

Violence, chaos must not prevail in Lebanon: Macron

French Prez urges speedy global response after deadly Beirut port blast

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Paris, Aug. 9: French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said violence and chaos must not prevail in Lebanon as he opened a UN-backed aid conference for the country rocked by angry protests over negligence blamed for the deadly Beirut port blast.

“It is up to the authoritie­s of the country to act so that the country does not sink, and to respond to the aspiration­s that the Lebanese people are expressing right now, legitimate­ly, in the streets of Beirut,” Macron said.

“We must all work together to ensure that neither violence nor chaos prevails,” he added. “It is the future of Lebanon that is at stake.” Macron on Sunday called for speedy internatio­nal backing for disaster-struck Lebanon and urged its leaders to prevent “chaos” as he opened an emergency aid conference following Beirut’s deadly port blast.

Macron hosted US President Donald Trump and other world leaders for the virtual conference to drum up aid for Lebanon, as the UN said some $117 million will be needed over the next three months for the emergency response. “The objective today is to act quickly and effectivel­y to coordinate our aid on the ground so that it goes as efficientl­y as possible to the Lebanese people,” Macron told the conference also attended by Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun, UN aid coordinato­r Mark Lowcock, representa­tives of the World Bank, the Red Cross, the IMF, the EU, the Arab League and several Middle Eastern leaders.

Macron was the first world leader to visit Beirut after Tuesday’s devastatin­g explosion which killed at least 158 people, wounded some 6,000 and left an estimated 300,000 homeless.

Lebanese people enraged by the official negligence blamed for the explosion have taken to the streets in anti-government protests that saw clashes with the army.

Macron said it was “up to the authoritie­s of the country to act so that the country does not sink, and to respond to the aspiration­s that the Lebanese people are expressing right now, legitimate­ly, in the streets of Beirut.

“We must all work together to ensure that neither violence nor chaos prevails,” he added. “It is the future of Lebanon that is at stake.” Macron also warned that “those who have an interest in this division and chaos, it is the powers that would somehow want to put the Lebanese people at risk”. He did not name names.

 ?? — AFP ?? People take photos from atop a bridge overlookin­g the damaged port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut and its grain silos on Sunday, in the aftermath of a colossal explosion that occurred Tuesday due to a huge pile of ammonium nitrate that had languished for years at a port warehouse.
— AFP People take photos from atop a bridge overlookin­g the damaged port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut and its grain silos on Sunday, in the aftermath of a colossal explosion that occurred Tuesday due to a huge pile of ammonium nitrate that had languished for years at a port warehouse.

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