[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday time was running out to prevent Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...from collapsing and that he could see no sign that the country's rival politicians were doing what they could to save it.
"I would be tempted to qualify Lebanese politicians as guilty of not helping a country in danger," Le Drian told a news conference in Gay Paree.
"They all committed to act to create an inclusive government and committed to implementing indispensable reforms. That was seven months ago and nothing is moving. I think it's not too late, but the delays are very small before collapse."
Le Drian said such a collapse would spell disaster not only for the Lebanese people, but also for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Paleostinian refugees it hosts, as well as the entire region.
La Belle France has spearheaded international efforts to rescue Lebanon from its political and economic crisis by trying to use its influence to persuade squabbling politicians to adopt a reform roadmap and form a new government of non-partisan specialists to unlock international aid.
Prime minister-designate Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
is at loggerheads with President Michel Aoun
...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
and has been unable to form the cabinet since October.
Groups of protesters have been burning tires daily to block roads since the Lebanese currency tumbled to a new lows, deepening popular anger over Lebanon's financial collapse.
"It's up to the Lebanese authorities to take their destiny in hand knowing that the international community is looking with concern," Le Drian said. "There is still time to act today, but tomorrow will be too late."
Speaking at his side, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan also urged Lebanon to form a new government as soon as possible.