this is hardtalk. a quarter of lebanon s population are syrian refugees, which is putting the country s infrastructure and resources under increasing strain. the party of my guests, ghassan hasbani says he wants to send them home. some leading politicalfigures there are calling for the refugees to be sent home. but since some in the government have ruled out talking directly to president assad, how can they be sure any returning refugees would be safe? ghassan hasbani, welcome and thank you for being with us. after one and a half million syrians have sought refuge in your country. about a quarter of your population. how big a threat those that represent?m quarter of your population. how big a threat those that represent? it is a threat those that represent? it is a huge economic and social burden. lebanon welcomed all these syrians at the beginning, given the humanitarian situation as they were in. after a while, several years on, the numbers have increased significantly and
population is syrian, refugees of war. now the party of my guest, deputy prime minister ghassan hasbani, says enough is enough. it wants to send them home but says it rules out talking to president assad how can it be sure they d be safe. the government say it s a burden the undermines the country s future is this the biggest threat or is it a political system that is entrenched sectarianism, legitimized bigotry and encouraged corruption so bad, it can t even leave the lights on? corruption so bad, it can t even keep the lights on? hardtalk theme music. ghassan hasbani, welcome to hardtalk, thank you for being with us. up to 1.5 million syrians have sought refuge in your country in the course of the war. about a quarter of your population now. how big a threat does that represent to lebanon? initially it is a huge economic and social burden on the country, no doubt. lebanon welcomed all these syrians at the beginning, given the need, the humanitarian situation they were in.
hardtalk. hello and welcome to hardtalk, i m shaun ley. a quarter of lebanon s population is syrian, refugees of war. now the party of my guest, deputy prime minister ghassan hasbani, says enough is enough. it wants to send them home but says it rules out talking to president assad how can it be sure they d be safe. the government say it s a burden the undermines the country s future is this the biggest threat or is it a political system that is entrenched sectarianism, legitimized bigotry and encouraged corruption so bad, it can t even keep the lights on? hardtalk theme music. ghassan hasbani, welcome to hardtalk, thank you for being with us. up to 1.5 million syrians have sought refuge in your country in the course of the war. about a quarter of your population now. how big a threat does that represent to lebanon? initially, it is a huge economic and social burden on the country, no doubt. lebanon welcomed all these syrians at the beginning, given the need, the humanitari
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newsroom starts right now. our top story, u.s. president donald trump fighting back against the latest accusations from lhis former attorney michael cohen. the president again denied having prior knowledge of a 2016 meeting at trump tower between his top campaign advisers and russians. according to our sources, cohen says the president knew about it. if cohen is telling the truth, it could be problematic for the white house. there are at least 20 instances over the past year in which mr. trump and his advisers have said mr. trump was not aware of the meeting. here are just a few examples. did you tell your father anything about this? it was such a nothing. there was nothing to tell. donald trump jr. put it all out today. did you he know the time that they had the meeting? no, i didn t know anything about the meeting. let s focus on what the president was aware. nothing. it must have been a very unborn meeting because i never h