Thu 06 August 2020:
French President Emmanuel Macron offered France’s support for the Lebanese people on a visit to Beirut after the port blast, but said crisis-hit Lebanon would “continue to sink” unless its leaders carry out reforms.
French President Emmanuel Macron toured Beirut’s shattered streets with crowds demanding the end to a “regime” of politicians they blame for corruption and dragging Lebanon into disaster.
French President Emmanuel Macron went to the site of the Beirut explosion as part of his visit to Lebanon.
Read more on https://t.co/5FmYn4e7AC pic.twitter.com/RvfiSBDVdG
— euronews (@euronews) August 6, 2020
“I see the emotion on your face, the sadness, the pain. This is why I’m here,” he told one group, shaking their hands on roads strewn with rubble and flanked by shops with windows blown out after Tuesday’s blast that killed 145 and injured 5,000.
Macron promised to send more medical and other aid to Lebanon, while those around him chanted “Revolution” and “The people want the fall of the regime.”
BREAKING – #French President Emanuel Macron arrived in #Beirut, #Lebanon following the explosion to show solidarity. He was mobbed by locals on the street, chanting:
“Down with the regime”, and calling for Revolution while declaiming Lebanon’s President Aoun. pic.twitter.com/PUfD1UBXv8
— SV News ? (@SVNewsAlerts) August 6, 2020
“But what is also needed here is political change. This explosion should be the start of a new era,” Macron said, making the tour shortly after arriving on the first visit to Lebanon by a foreign leader since the blast.
One man told Macron: “We hope this aid will go to the Lebanese people not the corrupt leaders.”
Macron pledges aid won’t go to ‘corrupt hands’, wants new Lebanon deal
French President Emmanuel Macron told angry Lebanese crowds in downtown Beirut that French aid would not go to “corrupt hands” and he would seek a new deal with political authorities.
“I guarantee you this – aid will not go to corrupt hands,” Macron told protesters in central Beirut two days after the city was devastated by a blast.
“I will talk to all political forces to ask them for a new pact. I am here today to propose a new political pact to them,” he said, after being greeted by crowds calling for an end to the “regime”.
