Saturday, 19 December, 2020 - 08:45
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with Lebanon s President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Al-Rai broke the stalemate in the issue of the Lebanese government’s formation by meeting on Friday with President Michel Aoun and the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, a day after his meeting with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.
Well-informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the patriarch took the initiative to meet with Hariri and invited Bassil to Bkerki.
During his meeting with Rai, the president affirmed that his goal was to form a productive and effective government that would be able to face internal and regional challenges.
Saad Hariri: My Job is Not Just to Form Any a Government But Stop The Economic Collapse Published December 17th, 2020 - 07:38 GMT
A woman sits amidst the rubble in her damaged house in the Lebanese capital Beirut on August 6, 2020. AFP
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri Wednesday reaffirmed that the government he was striving to form would carry out reforms needed to halt the country’s economic collapse and rebuild Beirut following the massive Aug. 4 explosion that pulverized Beirut Port.
He stressed that his goal was not to become prime minister, nor to form just any government, but rather to stop the economic collapse and reconstruct Beirut after the port blast that damaged half of the capital, killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands and caused billions of dollars in material damage.
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Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai in Bkirki, north of Beirut . The meeting focused on the Cabinet formation deadlock.
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri Wednesday told reporters after a 45-minute meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai in Bkirki, north of Beirut, that the meeting focused on the Cabinet formation deadlock.
Hariri reaffirmed that the government he was striving to form would carry out reforms needed to halt the country’s economic collapse and rebuild Beirut following the massive Aug. 4 explosion that pulverized Beirut Port.
He stressed that his goal was not to become prime minister, nor to form just any government, but rather to stop the economic collapse and reconstruct Beirut after the port blast that damaged half of the capital, killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands and caused billions of dollars in material damage.
Hariri s Future Bloc Accuses Aoun of Obstructing The Formation of a Cabinet albawaba.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from albawaba.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Monday, 14 December, 2020 - 11:15
The photo shows the scene of the Aug. 4 explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 19, 2020. (AP) Asharq Al-Awsat
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister will not meet with the prosecutor investigating the Beirut port explosion as requested, persons familiar with the case said Monday, adding the premier has already given the prosecutor all the information he has.
Premier Hassan Diab and three former Cabinet ministers were charged last week by Judge Fadi Sawwan with negligence in the massive Aug. 4 blast that killed over 200 people, injured thousands and caused widespread destruction in the capital.
The explosion was caused by the ignition of a large stockpile of explosive material that had been stored at the port for six years with the knowledge of top security officials and politicians who did nothing about it. The four are the most senior officials to be charged in the