Lebanon just days away from social explosion, warns Diab

Caretaker PM urges foreign donors to release financial assistance, adding that ‘linking aid to Lebanon with government formation has started to threaten the lives of Lebanese’

Lebanon’s caretaker premier Hassan Diab on Tuesday urged donors to “save” the country, despite the fact it has no formal government, as it struggles through a dire economic crisis.

Warning that Lebanon is “just days away from a social explosion,” Diab urged the international community to “help save Lebanese from death and prevent Lebanon’s demise.”

He urged foreign donors to release financial aid even though the multi-confessional country has failed to form a new government in almost 11 months.

“Linking aid to Lebanon with government formation has started to threaten the lives of Lebanese,” Diab told a Beirut meeting with foreign envoys.

Withholding funds, he argued, does “not affect the corrupt. Instead it is the Lebanese people who pay a heavy price,” he said. “Save Lebanon before it’s too late.”