French envoy slams Lebanon PM for shifting blame on economy

BEIRUT (Reuters) – France’s ambassador to Lebanon has rebuked Lebanon’s prime minister for saying the country is under siege and blamed years of “mismanagement and inaction” by its leaders for its economic collapse.

The World Bank has called Lebanon’s crisis one of the worst depressions of modern history. The currency has lost more than 90% of its value and more than half the population has been propelled into poverty.

French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo was speaking on Tuesday in response to a speech by caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who told envoys that a siege had been imposed on the country and warned of imminent social unrest.

In a recording of her comments circulated by the French embassy on Wednesday, Grillo blamed Lebanon’s “political class” for the downfall. “But what is frightening, Mr prime minister, is that today this brutal collapse... is the deliberate result of mismanagement and inaction for years,” she said. “It is not the result of an external siege. It is the result of your own responsibilities, all of you, for years, of the political class. This is the reality.”

Diab has been serving in a caretaker capacity since resigning in the wake of the catastrophic August 4 Beirut Port explosion. Since then, fractious sectarian politicians have been unable to agree on a new government.

Donors have long demanded reforms to stamp out state corruption and waste – widely seen as root causes of the crisis.

Both Grillo and US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea are traveling to Saudi Arabia for meetings on the situation in Lebanon on Thursday.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday blamed the US for the suffering of the Lebanese, accusing it of forcing countries not to provide aid for Lebanon.