Arab League Expresses Willingness to Help Lebanon End Political Crisis
The Arab League said Thursday it is ready to help Lebanon solve its political stalemate, after weeks of mass protests and amid the country’s worst financial crisis in decades.
President Michel Aoun received at Baabda visiting Arab League assistant secretary general, Hossam Zaki who relayed the League’s willingness to help Lebanon out of its political and economic impasse, the National News Agency reported.
“The Arab League is ready to support Lebanon at this delicate stage, and ready to provide any help needed to overcome the crisis,” Zaki said in remarks he made to reporters after meeting Aoun, relaying a message from Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit.
Zaki said the Arab League is “keen on Lebanon's stability and civil peace.”
Earlier, media reports said the Arab League’s message to Lebanese officials stresses the need to “take the rightful aspirations of Lebanese people into consideration.”
It also calls for resolving the crisis before the country “slides into serious political and economic status,” said the reports.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, resigned late last month in response to nationwide protests that erupted on Oct. 17. They’re targeting the country’s entire political class.
Protesters have resorted to road closures and other tactics in an effort to pressure politicians into responding to their demands for a new government.
Aoun has not set a date for binding consultations with heads of parliamentary blocs to name a new premier.
Political factions remain deadlocked over the new Cabinet’s composition.
Source: Naharnet, Associated Press
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/266777 |