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Guterres commits UN support to Lebanon, calls for timely election
UN chief Antonio Guterres meets senior Lebanese political and religious officials, visits the site of the Beirut explosion.
Beirut, Lebanon – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to supporting crisis-hit Lebanon and urged the country to hold parliamentary elections next year on time.
“We aspire Lebanon to establish a social contract, develop its relations with foreign countries, and to achieve reforms in cooperation with civil society and the private sector,” Guterres said on Monday following a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail.
Mikati said Lebanon is committed to its dissociation policy from regional disputes and conflicts.
The international community continues to urge Lebanon to implement economic and structural reforms to stop wasteful spending and establish anti-corruption and transparency mechanisms.
Guterres’s visit comes as Lebanon struggles with crippling political paralysis, and an economic crisis that has caused three-quarters of its population to fall into poverty. Lebanon is struggling to control the local currency, which has lost more than 90 percent of its value in just over two years, as well as skyrocketing inflation.
Mikati said Lebanon urgently needs more aid, especially for a cash assistance programme for hundreds of thousands of families.
He also asked that the international community help to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees.
Guterres said Syrian refugees have affected Lebanon, economically, socially, and “sometimes with security”.
“Nevertheless, we saw Lebanon opening its borders, even though larger countries closed theirs, and this reflects the Lebanese generosity,” he said. Lebanon hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees.
Guterres earlier met Speaker Nabih Berri, who spoke about Israeli violations of the Lebanese airspace and stalled maritime border negotiations.
He also met six senior religious officials, including Sunni Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian and Cardinal Bechara Rai, the head of Lebanon’s Maronite church.
Guterres also visited the Beirut port to pay his respects to the victims of the port explosion in August last year that killed more than 200 people, injured about 6,500 others, and flattened several neighbourhoods of the Lebanese capital.
“An impartial and transparent investigation into this tragic event is crucial to ensure justice,” the UN secretary-general said on Twitter.
www.aljazeera.com
UN chief Antonio Guterres meets senior Lebanese political and religious officials, visits the site of the Beirut explosion.
Beirut, Lebanon – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to supporting crisis-hit Lebanon and urged the country to hold parliamentary elections next year on time.
“We aspire Lebanon to establish a social contract, develop its relations with foreign countries, and to achieve reforms in cooperation with civil society and the private sector,” Guterres said on Monday following a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail.
Mikati said Lebanon is committed to its dissociation policy from regional disputes and conflicts.
The international community continues to urge Lebanon to implement economic and structural reforms to stop wasteful spending and establish anti-corruption and transparency mechanisms.
Guterres’s visit comes as Lebanon struggles with crippling political paralysis, and an economic crisis that has caused three-quarters of its population to fall into poverty. Lebanon is struggling to control the local currency, which has lost more than 90 percent of its value in just over two years, as well as skyrocketing inflation.
Mikati said Lebanon urgently needs more aid, especially for a cash assistance programme for hundreds of thousands of families.
He also asked that the international community help to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees.
Guterres said Syrian refugees have affected Lebanon, economically, socially, and “sometimes with security”.
“Nevertheless, we saw Lebanon opening its borders, even though larger countries closed theirs, and this reflects the Lebanese generosity,” he said. Lebanon hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees.
Guterres earlier met Speaker Nabih Berri, who spoke about Israeli violations of the Lebanese airspace and stalled maritime border negotiations.
He also met six senior religious officials, including Sunni Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian and Cardinal Bechara Rai, the head of Lebanon’s Maronite church.
Guterres also visited the Beirut port to pay his respects to the victims of the port explosion in August last year that killed more than 200 people, injured about 6,500 others, and flattened several neighbourhoods of the Lebanese capital.
“An impartial and transparent investigation into this tragic event is crucial to ensure justice,” the UN secretary-general said on Twitter.
Guterres commits UN support to Lebanon, calls for timely election
UN chief Antonio Guterres meets senior Lebanese political and religious officials, visits site of Beirut explosion.
