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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

French President’s Office Confirms Macron to Visit Beirut Sept. 1

FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron waves as he visits a devastated street of Beirut, Lebanon August 6, 2020. Thibault Camus/Pool via REUTERS

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Beirut on Sept. 1, his office said on Wednesday.

Macron was the first foreign leader to visit Beirut after a massive blast destroyed parts of the Lebanese capital in early August.

Macron has taken the lead role in coordinating the international response and has chaired a virtual aid conference that drummed up more than 250 million euros ($295 million) in pledges.

The devastating explosion that was likely caused by a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate stored at a warehouse at Beirut Port has killed and injured thousands of people and left an estimated 300,000 homeless.

Many questions have been raised as to how such a huge cargo of highly explosive material could have been left unsecured for years.

During his Beirut visit, the French president took a tough tone on the reforms he said were the only thing holding back a massive aid package that could put the ailing country back in the saddle.

Speaking of Lebanon's political leaders, Macron said: "Their responsibility is huge, that of a revamped pact with the Lebanese people in the coming weeks, that of deep change."

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