Ambassador: US Embassy in Lebanon ‘Not Intimidated’ by Shots Fired Towards it

Dorothy Shea, US ambassador to Lebanon, meets with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in Beirut, Lebanon, in this handout released on September 22, 2023. (Dalati & Nohra)
Dorothy Shea, US ambassador to Lebanon, meets with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in Beirut, Lebanon, in this handout released on September 22, 2023. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Ambassador: US Embassy in Lebanon ‘Not Intimidated’ by Shots Fired Towards it

Dorothy Shea, US ambassador to Lebanon, meets with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in Beirut, Lebanon, in this handout released on September 22, 2023. (Dalati & Nohra)
Dorothy Shea, US ambassador to Lebanon, meets with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in Beirut, Lebanon, in this handout released on September 22, 2023. (Dalati & Nohra)

US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea on Friday said the embassy was "not intimidated" by a gunman's shots towards its entrance earlier this week and that Lebanese authorities were investigating the incident.

Late Wednesday, shots were fired near the US embassy north of Beirut. Embassy spokesperson Jake Nelson said no one had been hurt and normal business operations were ongoing.

"We know that authorities are investigating this incident, whereby a gunman fired shots toward the US embassy the other night," Shea said on Friday after meeting Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati.

"Please know that we at the US embassy are not intimidated by this incident, and our security protocols are very strong and our partnerships are ironclad," she said.

Mikati also condemned what he described as an "attack on the American embassy". There was no claim of responsibility for the gunfire and authorities have not provided details on the investigation.

The highly secured US embassy lies north of Beirut in the town of Awkar. Security incidents around it are rare. The embassy moved there from Beirut following a suicide attack in 1983 which killed more than 60 people.



UK's Starmer Discussed Importance of a Ceasefire With Lebanon's PM

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer smiles on stage on the second day of the annual Labor Party conference in Liverpool, north-west England, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer smiles on stage on the second day of the annual Labor Party conference in Liverpool, north-west England, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
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UK's Starmer Discussed Importance of a Ceasefire With Lebanon's PM

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer smiles on stage on the second day of the annual Labor Party conference in Liverpool, north-west England, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer smiles on stage on the second day of the annual Labor Party conference in Liverpool, north-west England, on September 23, 2024. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met his Lebanese counterpart at the United Nations and discussed the importance of an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated solution in the conflict with Israel, his office said on Friday.
Starmer met Lebanon's Najib Mikati at the United Nations General Assembly, reported Reuters.
"The Prime Minister opened by giving his sincere condolences to Prime Minister Mikati for the loss of civilian life in recent weeks," the statement said.
"They discussed the escalating conflict in Lebanon, and agreed on the importance of an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated solution."