Lebanese Foreign Minister Resigns
Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 6:27 am
Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti, prepares to leave his office after he announced his resignation at the Foreign Ministry, in Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 3, 2020.
Lebanon’s foreign minister has resigned.
Nassif Hitti handed in his resignation Monday, warning that the country’s financial crisis and its lack of political will to change could pose the biggest threat to the nation since its civil war.
“I took part in this government to work for one boss called Lebanon,” Hitti said in a statement, “then I found in my country multiple bosses and contradicting interests. If they do not come together in the interest of rescuing the Lebanese people, God forbid, the ship will sink with everyone on it.”
Hitti said Lebanon runs the risk of becoming a “failed state.”
The career diplomat became foreign minister in January as part of Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government.
Hitti was reported to be frustrated with Diab’s criticism of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, following the French diplomat’s recent visit to Beirut.