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Le Drian: Failure to Form Lebanese Government is 'Terrible Incident'

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian speaks during a press conference in Paris, France March 11, 2021. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo
French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian speaks during a press conference in Paris, France March 11, 2021. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo
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Le Drian: Failure to Form Lebanese Government is 'Terrible Incident'

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian speaks during a press conference in Paris, France March 11, 2021. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo
French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian speaks during a press conference in Paris, France March 11, 2021. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday the failure to form a new Lebanese government was a terrible incident as he criticized the country's entire political class.

Earlier on Thursday, Saad Hariri abandoned his effort to form a new government, dimming hopes of a cabinet being agreed any time soon to start rescuing the country from financial meltdown.

“It is clear we will not be able to agree with his Excellency," Hariri said after meeting President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace for barely 20 minutes. "That is why I excuse myself from government formation and God help the country."

Hariri said Aoun had requested fundamental changes to a cabinet line-up he had presented to him on Wednesday.

"It is only logical that the prime minister draws his conclusions," Le Drian told reporters at the United Nations in New York.

"It is yet another terrible incident... There is a total inability of the Lebanese leaders to find a solution to the crisis that they have created," he added.

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International Call Made for Sudanese Army, RSF to Hold Indirect Negotiations

Sudanese people fled Sennar towards the city of Gadarif (AFP)
Sudanese people fled Sennar towards the city of Gadarif (AFP)
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International Call Made for Sudanese Army, RSF to Hold Indirect Negotiations

Sudanese people fled Sennar towards the city of Gadarif (AFP)
Sudanese people fled Sennar towards the city of Gadarif (AFP)

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced its initial consent to an invitation by the United Nations to hold indirect talks with the Sudanese army over the humanitarian situation in the country.

The negotiations are expected to take place next week in Geneva, but the army made no statement on the matter.

A member of the RSF negotiating team told Asharq Al-Awsat that the forces welcomed the invitation of UN Special Envoy Ramtane Lamamra to hold a series of indirect discussions over the humanitarian conditions in the country.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed that the RSF “accepted, in principle, any call that aims to alleviate the sufferings of the Sudanese people,” without taking into account statements made by Army Commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan about his rejection to talks that would lead to ending the war.

Speaking on Tuesday in a military air base, Al-Burhan said that his army would not succumb to any blackmail through negotiations that put its authority and will at stake and do not meet the people’s aspirations.

Last week, the UN called on the Sudanese army and the RSF to hold indirect talks, to review the means to facilitate the access of aid to the war-stricken population and protect civilians.

Lamamra addressed a letter to Burhan, on June 26, in which he proposed sending a high-raking delegation to Geneva on July 10 to start discussions with the RSF, under UN auspices.

His step comes in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2736, which “calls on the parties to the conflict to allow and facilitate the rapid, safe, unhindered and sustained passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need.”