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On his first visit about three weeks ago, French President Emmanuel Macron prepared a solution, before returning on Tuesday, on the centenary of the Lebanese establishment, to gather during a meeting with party representatives at the Pine Palace his views on how to get out of the crises in the country, in a step preceded by the distribution. The French embassy for a roadmap for the next stage, before Macron reviews the documents presented to him by politicians.
On August 6, two days after the port explosion, Macron arrived in Beirut and immediately made his way to the scene of the explosion and from there to the affected residential areas. He walked the streets of Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, making promises to people who were desperate and wanted to hold on to any ray of hope.
During his tour, Macron said: “I am not here to support the government or the regime, but I came to help the Lebanese people. I will propose a new political contract this afternoon, and I will return on September 1 to follow up.” He finished his promises with a sentence that contained a lot of firmness. “If the officials don’t listen to me, you will be.” There is another responsibility on my part towards the people. “
But during his second visit, and in parallel to their meetings at the Pinnacle Palace, the Lebanese gathered in downtown Beirut, chanting slogans criticizing Macron’s cooperation with the political class and his marginalization of the Lebanese who promised to support them, not to politicians, which is what the activist of the Jihad Farah movement, a participant in the demonstrations, told the website. Al-Hurra said: “The Lebanese reject attempts to float this political class, which is what is happening today. This is a corrupt class and everyone who wants to get closer to it contributes to deepening the Lebanese crisis, not the other way around. “.
In the demonstration slogans were raised denouncing the political class and others in French directed at Macron saying: “Do not cooperate with the corrupt and criminals” and “with your cooperation, you become accomplices.”
Sources who participated in the meeting with the French president at the Pine Palace say: “The meeting had a clear objective, to form a government capable of carrying out rapid reforms whose results will appear in the coming months, which will help it to get assistance. necessary for Lebanon to finally come out of its crisis, since Sidr’s money cannot solve it. The crisis is not even part of it “, and points out that” until now there is no talk of a new regime. On the contrary, Macron he refused to talk about this issue now and considered that his priority is reform ”.
Macron listened to the political parties and party representatives, expressing his love, respect and affection for Lebanon, that is, the attendees, while on his first visit he was firm, promising and taking with him what Lebanon had achieved.
According to sources who attended the meeting, “Macron does not want to open any controversial issue and thus talk about a new social contract that is not serious at this stage, but based on how and how the government is formed, it can become a reality if it is achieves “.
The French had already tried to get into the Lebanese dossier in 2007 when they invited the political parties to Saint-Cloud to engage in a dialogue between the Lebanese under the auspices and participation of the then French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who transmitted the proposal to them. Iranian for a solution in Lebanon, and that was the first time the “Triangle” was presented. In public and so on, but things did not turn out as the French expected.
The participants in the conference scenes heard the then French envoy, Jean-Claude Cousseran, shortly after his return from Tehran, that the latter considered the “tripartite” a framework for dealing with the “Hezbollah weapons” file.
Former Minister Boutros Harb told the Al-Hurra website: “The French initiative expresses a sense of the depth of the Lebanese crisis and an attempt to help officials who, due to their impotence and lack of patriotism, have led the country to this situation, and all Lebanese feel that everyone in power is concerned about their own interest over the public interest, “indicating Until” the threat of the French president with sanctions and the exposure of saboteurs may constitute a form of pressure on the officials to change their behavior. ”
Macron did not address any controversial issue among the Lebanese in his recent visit, since sources familiar with his meetings assure that “the French president was clear in his handling and approach to reality, that is, he told everyone that his priority is to focus in solving the economic crisis and not immersing oneself in controversial issues, of course whose point is weapons. ” Hezbollah, “and noted that” everyone who spoke on this issue heard the same response. “During his visit to the port, he had stated that” Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese people. ”
In the midst of all this, the basic question arises: What does Macron want from Lebanon if we admit that the Lebanese need urgent financial help?
The former minister considers that “in the game of nations, we can realize that the initiative of the French president towards Lebanon in this circumstance that we are going through and that crosses the region, gives the French a place ahead of the other powers.”
For his part, political analyst Elie Fawaz told Al-Hurra: “In addition to his policy towards the eastern Mediterranean and directed against Turkey on issues related to gas and oil, Macron seems interested in preserving the stability of the Lebanese situation. recognizing the central role of Hezbollah in it. In more than one statement on the legitimacy of the party, he also seems interested in playing the role of mediator with the Americans, especially in the event that Donald Trump was re-elected and it was he who called him and assured him that the sanctions policy was in place. Hezbollah’s interest and lobbied in the direction of dissuading Americans from voting against the role of UNIFIL. In southern Lebanon “.
He adds: “So you are courting Iran for what could be of great benefit to your domestic companies, as we must not forget in this context that the French and Germans strove to circumvent US sanctions by creating a mechanism that allows Iranians pay without going through central banks. “
A party source familiar with what has been happening since the French president’s first visit and the diplomatic environment surrounding his initiative says: “Macron wants to gain a foothold in the eastern Mediterranean because confrontation with Turkey is always possible, and given that Syria today it does not exist and is exhausted by the war, Cyprus and Greece apart from the French confrontation, it is not. The French only have to enter Lebanon, through him, to enter the region, and the explosion came to give them an adequate excuse to enter easily.
And he adds: “The possible confrontation or transfer of the balance that the French want, suits the Israeli because there are those who are willing to face the Turkish influence and can be spectators and maintain their relations with Ankara, especially economic ones, and also this French presence It suits Iran very well with Turkey’s growing role in northern Syria and Iraq. ” This is what makes Tehran feel the danger more and more. ”
What the source says is consistent with Macron’s conversation with politicians. Sources at the meeting say: “Everyone who spoke about Hezbollah weapons, Macron responded by leaving this issue aside, and now is not the right time for that. What’s more, he addressed Muhammad Raad (head of the bloc Hezbollah in parliament) telling him: You sit quietly while I defend About you. ”
For his part, Fawaz says: “From here we understand how Macron completely neutralized the issue of Hezbollah weapons. This thorny issue does not even enter the French president’s accounts now and will not enter the future of course, as it seems to guarantee the Iranians the survival and strengthening of Hezbollah in exchange for their support of it. In their great confrontation, we must not ignore the economic obsession of the French president, who seemed to be the head of Total because of his way of treating the Lebanese.
He adds: “The way Mustafa Adib was assigned to form the government gave an indication of how the French treated Lebanon, as we used to say that Hezbollah was interfering in the formation of the government, but today we are faced with a greater reality, which is that even the designated president must be approved by the party. ” Noting that “there is a fear that this abuse could be an introduction to a deal in favor of Iran at the expense of the Lebanese.”
Earlier in his visit, Macron said that he had briefed the US president on his initiative, and observers put it in the context of suggesting that what he is doing is supported by all, in particular, Americans after he obtained the European support required, especially the British and Germans.
Follow-up sources say that “Macron is betting to soften the US position towards the party by approving the demarcation of the maritime borders, and this is what the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, believes for them.”
On the other hand, the spokeswoman for the US State Department confirmed that Hezbollah still represents a “great threat”, in response to the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron about the pro-Iranian party.
Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told Al-Hurra in a statement to her colleague Michel Ghandour on Wednesday that “Hezbollah, supported by Iran, is a terrorist organization that continues to pose a major threat to the United States and its international partners.”
All this, pending what the United States envoy, David Schenker, who is visiting Lebanon and meeting with its officials, says.
