French president to address situation in Lebanon on Sunday after PM-designate resigns

French president Emmanuel Macron will hold a news conference on Sunday on the political situation in Lebanon, the French presidency said.

Lebanon’s prime minister-designate, Mustapha Adib, quit on Saturday after trying for almost a month to line up a non-partisan cabinet, dealing a blow to a French plan aimed at rallying sectarian leaders to tackle the worst crisis since the nation’s 1975-1990 civil war.

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President Macron arrived in Lebanon shortly after a massive blast at Beirut port on August 4 that killed more than 190 people and injured 6,000, to put forth a roadmap for reform that included forming a Cabinet of independent ministers within two weeks.

The formation of a new cabinet was expected to be complete by September 15 but efforts were hindered by ongoing demands made by the Shia groups Amal and the Iran-backed Hezbollah to choose a candidate for the position of finance minister.

A new government is needed to pass a set of reforms that are required to unlock foreign aid.

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