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Paris (AFP)
On Tuesday night in Lebanon, French President Emmanuel Macron accused a journalist from the French daily “Le Figaro” and accused him of being “irresponsible” for stating in an article that France threatened to impose sanctions on Lebanese officials that would prevent the implementation of reforms, according to identical sources.
Scenes filmed by the French channel “LCA” showed the president angrily approaching the journalist at the conclusion of his visit to Beirut, which was marked by long hours of conversations with Lebanese leaders about the formation of a government with a specific mission.
The French president told the chief correspondent, Georges Malbrunot, who specializes in Middle Eastern affairs and was held hostage by the “Islamic Army” in Iraq, “What I did, given the sensitivity of the issue … is irresponsible. “, adding:” It is irresponsible for France, irresponsible for those involved and dangerous. ” From an ethical point of view “.
According to the scenes that have been widely disseminated on social media, the president said loudly: “You have always heard me defend journalists and I always will. But I speak frankly, what I did is dangerous, unprofessional and mean”.
Macron was referring to an article published by the newspaper “Le Figaro” on August 31 in which Georges Malbrunot wrote that during his first visit to Beirut on August 6, two days after the port explosion, the French president threatened to impose sanctions on political officials that would hinder the implementation of reforms. .
“I am very surprised by the unacceptable ferocity of this attack, to which I responded. I clarified the matter with the Elysee (palace), for me the matter is over,” the journalist told AFP.
The French presidency confirmed that the incident “ended” after a conversation with the journalist and the newspaper. She explained: “What the president accused him of is that he did not give the Elysee the ability to comment on the information in this regard.”
This is the first time the president has openly attacked a journalist. The French president has for months sought to calm relations with journalists, which were tense at the beginning of his presidential term. In Beirut, he was asked about the trial of the perpetrators of the attack on the magazine “Charlie Hebdo” and on Tuesday he reiterated his respect for press freedom.
During the press conference, Macron criticized the article and the press without naming him, criticized those who “write the worst crazy things without any investigation”, calling them to “ask the question directly.”
In response to questions about possible individual sanctions against Lebanese officials, Macron denied this hypothesis without completely ruling out a “broader sanctions mechanism” in the long term.
© 2020 AFP
