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Beirut French intelligence director Bernard Emie has joined forces to pressure Lebanon to form a new government and implement reforms, in a step that strengthens French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to save the country from a devastating economic crisis.
Three Lebanese officials said Emié was in contact with Lebanese officials on the issues discussed during Macron’s visit.
A senior Lebanese official said: “Yes, the French intelligence director is keeping track of all the files that Macron raised during his last visit, and for this purpose he is communicating with many Lebanese officials of all affiliations, following them step by step. and urging them to accelerate the implementation of the reforms. “
Emier, who was French ambassador to Lebanon from 2004 to 2007, was appointed intelligence director shortly after Macron took power in 2017.
Aimee was appointed ambassador to Lebanon after being an advisor to the late French President Jacques Chirac. He was in office at the time of the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a close friend of Chirac.
Diplomats say he played an important role in efforts to pull Syrian forces out of Lebanon, after they entered during the civil war and did not exit after that.
Emié is one of several French officials who follow the Lebanese factions. Sources said among those officials, Emmanuel Bonn, Macron’s top diplomatic adviser and a former French ambassador to Beirut.
Macron is at the forefront of international efforts to pressure rival Lebanese politicians to address a crisis seen as the greatest threat to Lebanon’s stability since the civil war that erupted between 1975 and 1990.
The crisis sparked by decades of corruption and mismanagement was compounded by the Beirut port bombing on August 4, which killed more than 190 people and destroyed parts of the city.
During his second visit to Lebanon, Macron gave Lebanese politicians until the end of October to begin implementing reforms, warning that they could face sanctions if corruption prevents it.
Pressure from Macron led Lebanese leaders to agree on a new prime minister, Mustafa Adib, who initiated talks to form a government of specialists.
Although France, the former colonial power, is at the forefront of diplomatic efforts in Lebanon, other countries, such as Iran, are also influencing through their support for Hezbollah, which Washington classifies as a terrorist group.
The French weight in dealing with the Lebanese crisis goes beyond humanitarian and political effort and the desire to save Lebanon from collapse to secure the decades-old influence, interests and connections that France fears will be affected by the crowd. international in the Lebanese arena.
