US Ambassador Tells Lebanese Leaders It Is Time to Form Government

A general view shows the damage at the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon August 5, 2020. Lebanese rescue teams pulled out bodies and hunted for missing in the wreckage of buildings as investigations blamed negligence for a massive warehouse explosion that sent a devastating blast wave across Beirut, killing at least 135 people and injuring more than 5,000. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The US ambassador to Beirut called on Lebanese politicians on Thursday to set aside their differences to rescue the country from its many crises, after months of wrangling that has blocked a deal on a new government.

After “nearly eight months without a government...isn’t it time to forgo demands?” US ambassador Dorothy Shea said in dubbed TV comments after meeting Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

She joined a chorus of foreign officials urging fractious leaders to agree a cabinet to tackle Lebanon’s economic collapse, its worst crisis in decades.

The crisis is posing the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since the 1975-1990 civil war, and a new cabinet could help initiate reforms to unlock foreign aid.