US calls for ‘significant reforms’ in Lebanon, sees Hezbollah as 🌳♥️obstacle
https://thearabweekly.com/us-calls-significant-reforms-lebanon-sees-hezbollah-obstacle
“Business as usual in Lebanon just is unacceptable,” Pompeo told
reporters.
Thursday 03/09/2020
WASHINGTON –US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
said Wednesday that any new Lebanese government must pursue fundamental reforms
to benefit the Lebanese people and regional security.
“Business as usual in Lebanon just is
unacceptable,” Pompeo told reporters.
An August 4 blast at the port in the capital Beirut killed at
least 190 people, pilloried the country’s economy and brought down the
government.
“This has to be a government that conducts
significant reforms,” Pompeo continued.
He said the United States and France, whose
President Emmanuel Macron was in Beirut Tuesday for consultations, shared “the
same objective” for Lebanon.
“Real change is what the people of Lebanon are
demanding, and the United States is going to use its diplomatic presence and
its diplomatic capabilities to make sure that we get that outcome,” he said.
“I think the French share that. I think the
whole world frankly sees the risk.”
Pompeo said the principal challenge is the power
of the armed political party Hezbollah, which the US considers a terror group.
In an apparent snub to the ruling class, US
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker said
Wednesday he will not meet with Lebanese politicians during a visit to Beirut
but would hold talks with civil society activists.
In an interview with the pan-Arab Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat,
Schenker said the new Lebanese government must believe in reforms and implement
them.
“There is a need for a government that cares about its people and
their demands, a responsible and transparent government that carries out
economic and political reforms,” he said.
Echoing Pompeo’s stance, Schenker noted that
Hezbollah was a “large part of the problem [and] stands in the way of reform.”
On Sunday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his Iran-backed
Shia movement was “open” to a French proposal for a new political pact for
Lebanon.
During his visit, Macron said Lebanese political leaders had
agreed on a reform roadmap involving a government being put together within two
weeks, following last month’s devastating blast.
The last government resigned in the face of public anger over the
explosion, which also wounded thousands and laid waste to entire districts of
the capital.
Lebanon’s prime minister designate Mustapha Adib has pledged to
form a “government of experts” to drive desperately needed reforms in the
disaster-hit and economically ailing country.
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