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A French presidential source told Al-Arabiya: We are closely following the efforts to form a new government in Lebanon.
A French presidential source told Al-Arabiya on Thursday that Paris is closely monitoring efforts to form a new government in Lebanon.
The source added that French sanctions against Lebanese officials are not excluded, but we will not start with them if talks to form a government advance.
The source denied what the Lebanese media reported about the cancellation of Macron’s visit to Lebanon in December, noting that it was incorrect news.
In addition, a Lebanese official said on Thursday that a senior security official held talks in Paris with French intelligence chief Bernard Amy about the formation of the Lebanese government, and that the deadline for announcing this formation was approaching early in the month. next week.
France is counting on Lebanon’s divided politicians to form a new government that enacts reforms to lift the country out of a suffocating economic crisis seen as the greatest threat to stability since the 1975-1990 civil war.
On September 1, President Emmanuel Macron said during a visit to Beirut that Lebanese leaders agreed to form a government within two weeks, which means that a government must be formed early next week, to begin implementing reforms. stipulated in the French waybill.
Usually it takes several months to form a government in Lebanon, which is plagued by sectarian and factional divisions.
“We all hope it will be possible” to meet the deadline, a diplomat told Reuters.
“There have always been doubts in political and diplomatic circles about the possibility of forming (the government) in two weeks, and it is clear that there is a lot of work to be done before having a complete list of names,” he added.
The Lebanese official said that Major General Abbas Ibrahim, during his visit to Paris, met with the team assigned to follow up on the French initiative.
He added that after Ibrahim’s return to Beirut, he conveyed to President Michel Aoun, “France’s interest in following up on what was agreed during Macron’s visit, especially with regard to accelerating the formation of the government.”
Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib, whose name was put forward under French pressure on the eve of Macron’s visit, met with President Aoun on Tuesday and said he was in the “consultation phase” with the Lebanese president.
During his visit, Macron gave Lebanese politicians until the end of October to begin implementing reforms, saying that financial aid would be withheld and future sanctions would be imposed if corruption slowed a roadblock.
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