Reports: Top Diplomats Warn Lebanese Officials against Street Protests
Several top diplomats have advised Lebanese officials to avoid moves that would hit the country's stability over a dispute on the appointment of top military and security officials, local newspapers reported on Friday.
Al-Joumhouria daily said that the diplomats, mainly U.S. Ambassador David Hale and Russia's Ambassador Alexander Zasypkin, delivered messages to several Lebanese officials on “the importance of respecting the current stability and not to involve the country in any adventure whose repercussions are not known.”
An Nahar newspaper, meanwhile, specified that the “U.S.-Russian” message was delivered to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.
It said that the ambassadors advised Aoun to be “wise” and resort to the political opposition to certain controversial issues rather than to the streets.
The diplomats warned him that street protests would jeopardize the country's stability, harm the military institution and paralyze the government.
The FPM has been holding intense consultations ahead of an extraordinary meeting for Aoun's Change and Reform bloc on Saturday aimed at issuing a stance from a decision taken by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel to extend the terms of top military officials.
The movement has been for months announcing its rejection of extensions, calling for the appointment of new high-ranking military and security officials.
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