Report: France 'Tasks' New Ambassador with Handling Macron’s Initiative
France’s new ambassador to Lebanon, Anne Grillo, has reportedly been tasked with following up on Macron’s initiative towards Lebanon, al-Liwaa daily reported on Friday.
Quoting a western diplomat on condition of anonymity, the daily said that “the Elysee has tasked Grillo, who arrived in Beirut on Wednesday, to pursue talks with representatives of the country’s top political blocs and parties whom Macron had met at the Pine Residence on September 2, after which an agreement to form a mission government made of specialists was reached.”
“Very happy to have arrived in Beirut and to take over as the head of the @AmbaFranceLiban (French Embassy in Lebanon) to continue France’s unfailing commitment alongside Lebanon and the Lebanese,” Grillo said in her first tweet after arriving in Beirut.
Macron last month extracted a pledge from all political sides in the former French protectorate to back speedy government formation as part of a roadmap out of the crisis, but efforts so far have failed.
Nidaa al-Watan newspaper on Friday quoted a “French source” as saying that “Lebanese officials have failed to respect the commitment they made to Macron by foiling his initiative. The French Presidency decided not to involve itself in the formation process that should have led to lining a reform-minded government.”
“French Ambassador Anne Grillo is going to hold talks at the local level, the Presidency will not intervene anymore,” the source told the daily.
Lebanon is mired in its worst economic crunch in decades, and still reeling from a massive explosion at Beirut’s port on August 4 that killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands and ravaged large parts of the capital.
Source: Naharnet
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