French President Emmanuel Macron promised angry Lebanese crowds in shattered Beirut that aid to rebuild the city would not go to “corrupt hands”, and he urged the political authorities to carry out reforms or risk plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis.
“OTHER POWERS MAY INTERFERE IN LEBANON UNLESS WE DO IT”
Macron was speaking during the first visit by a foreign leader to the Lebanese capital since the biggest blast in its history tore through the city, killing at least 145 people, injured 5,000 and leaving swathes of the capital in tatters.
After visiting the port at the epicentre of the blast, Macron was greeted by crowds in nearby Gemmayze street, one of the most damaged in the city, shouting chants against the political establishment and endemic corruption. “I guarantee you, this aid will not go to corrupt hands,” said Macron, who was wearing a black tie in mourning. “I see the emotion on your face, the sadness, the pain. This is why I’m here,” he told one group, pledging to deliver “home truths” to Lebanon’s leaders.
Macron later told BFMTV he was not presenting Lebanon’s leadership with a “diktat” after some of the political class criticized his remarks as interference.
In an interview with French news channel BFM, he said if France did not play its part, “that is of a power that believes in multilateralism and believes in the interests of the Lebanese people, other powers may interfere whether it be Iran, Saudi Arabia or Turkey.”