In Lebanon, Emmanuel Macron takes to task a journalist from "Figaro"

Emmanuel Macron during a press conference in Lebanon on September 1, 2020. -

A tense exchange.

LCI revealed this Wednesday a sequence showing Emmanuel Macron during a reception in Beirut in Lebanon on Tuesday evening, publicly attacking a journalist from

.

"What you did there, taking into account the sensitivity of the subject, taking into account what you know about the history of this country, is irresponsible", he launches to the great reporter, specialist in the Middle East.

He then continues: “Irresponsible for France, irresponsible for those concerned here, and serious from an ethical point of view.

You have always heard me defend journalists.

I always will.

But I speak to you frankly.

What you have done is serious, unprofessional and petty.

The reason for this anger?

According to LCI, the object of this outburst would be an article in

dating from the end of August on a particularly sensitive subject.

Hezbollah at the heart of the matter

In this article, Georges Malbrunot, the journalist taken to task by the President of the Republic, reviewed Emmanuel Macron's first visit to Lebanon after the explosion in Beirut in early August.

According to the reporter, the head of state would have had an "eight-minute aside" with Mohammed Raad, the head of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc, a movement classified as terrorist by the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany .

“I want to work with you to change Lebanon.

But prove that you are Lebanese, he reportedly told Mohammed Raad, according to a French source in Beirut.

Everyone knows you have an Iranian agenda.

We know your history very well, we know your particular identity, but you are Lebanese, yes or no?

Do you want to help the Lebanese, yes or no?

Are you talking about the Lebanese people, yes or no?

So go home, Macron had recommended, leave Syria and Yemen, and do the job here to build a state because this new state will also benefit your families ”.

In an article in

on August 17, Emmanuel Macron's entourage denied “any bilateral interview”, specifying that Mohammed Raad had been received among an audience of political leaders in order to “re-engage everyone in a process”.

World

Lebanon: A new government formed within two weeks, announces Emmanuel Macron

World

France ready to host a support conference in Lebanon

• Journalist

• Emmanuel Macron

• Media

• Lebanon

• Le Figaro