French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that the crisis facing Lebanon in light of the Beirut port explosion requires an urgent response and shows the need for reforms in the country.
Macron pledged to reporters today, Thursday, at the start of his visit to Beirut, to arrange more French, European and international aid to Lebanon in the coming days.
The French President said that he was sending “a message of support and friendship to the Lebanese people,” stressing that the top priority now is to stand by the Lebanese people without conditions.
Macron warned that Lebanon is facing “a political and economic crisis that requires an urgent response,” adding: “Lebanon’s suffering will continue unless reforms are implemented in it.”
Macron became the first foreign leader to visit after the devastating explosion that rocked the port of the city on Tuesday and is the most powerful in the history of the Lebanese capital.
According to the latest data, this explosion killed at least 137 people and injured five thousand, in addition to inflicting enormous material damage.
It is considered that the cause of the tragic accident was due to the extension of a fire that broke out inside the port to a warehouse in which a large shipment of highly flammable and explosive ammonium nitrate had been stored in it for years, despite experts’ warnings to the port officials.
Source: Agencies
