ISG Says Alarmed by 'Growing Violence' in Lebanon Demos

Six weeks after the enlarged meeting of the International Support Group for Lebanon in Paris on December 11, the ISG met Tuesday in Beirut at the ambassadorial level.

The ISG “notes with deep concern the ongoing absence of a functioning government that is needed to manage a set of deepening crises, to address demands of the Lebanese people. The ISG is alarmed by the situation which is increasingly marked by growing violence,” it said in a statement.

“The longer the absence of an effective and credible government capable to meet the aspirations expressed by all the Lebanese that will have the capacity and credibility to deliver the necessary substantive policy package of economic reforms, and that will be committed to disassociate the country from regional tensions and crisis, the more hardships the population will suffer, the more security risks and instability the country will face,” ISG warned.

The International Support Group has brought together the United Nations and the governments of China, France, Germany, Italy, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States, together with the European Union and the Arab League.

It was launched in September 2013 by the U.N. Secretary-General with former President Michel Suleiman to help mobilize support and assistance for Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty and state institutions and to specifically encourage assistance for the Lebanese Army, Syrian refugees in Lebanon, host communities, government programs and public services impacted by the Syrian crisis.