After an unprecedented judicial decision ... the government of Lebanon and the Ambassador of Washington turn the page on the crisis

The US Ambassador to Beirut Dorothy Chia said on Monday that she agreed with the Lebanese Foreign Ministry to turn the page of the judiciary’s decision to prevent the media from reporting statements, describing the decision as “regrettable,” as protests continue in Tripoli against the government.

The ambassador’s speech came in a press conference held after her meeting with the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Nassif Hatti, in which they touched on the judicial decision that was issued recently, which prohibited the Lebanese media from interviewing the American ambassador.

During the press conference, Xia said, "My meeting with the Minister was positive, and we stressed the need to strengthen bilateral relations, and the most prominent issue that we discussed was the judicial decision."

"We turned the page on the unfortunate decision, which I see as a diversion from the real crisis of the deteriorating economic situation in Lebanon," she added.

She stressed that the United States "will continue to assist Lebanon as long as the government takes the necessary steps to address the causes of the crisis, and it appreciates cooperation to advance our many common interests and our mutual goals in these particularly difficult times."

For his part, the Lebanese foreign minister stressed during the meeting, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Freedom of the media and the right of expression, which are sacred rights."

"The discussion touched on developments on the local scene, and the bilateral relations that bring together the two countries and peoples," the statement said.

He stressed the importance of cooperation between the two governments in all fields, "in support of Lebanon to get out of the economic crisis that it suffers from."

Has the government apologized?
Earlier, the ambassador announced that she had received an apology from the Lebanese government against the backdrop of the judicial decision, but Minister of Information Manal Abdel Samad denied that the government offered this apology.

The judicial decision that sparked the crisis came after statements by the American ambassador, in which she said that "billions of dollars went to the Hezbollah state instead of the government treasury."

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah described the ambassador’s statements as constituting a blatant attack on Lebanon’s sovereignty, while Socialist Party Chairman Walid Jumblatt said that what the judiciary witnessed is an introduction to what he described as the totalitarian regime, and that the Lebanese foreign minister has become the foreign minister of the Syrian regime.

Jumblatt also pointed out that chaos is widespread in the judiciary, foreign affairs, and finance in Lebanon.

For his part, Bassem Al-Shab, the diplomatic advisor to the former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, said that preventing the American ambassador in Beirut from the statement and preventing the Lebanese media from interviewing her and publishing her statements is surprising and suspicious.

The young man considered that this decision issued by the judge of urgent matters in the city of Tire is in violation of the constitution and represents a deviation from the norms, and also constitutes a dangerous precedent for Lebanon and its international relations, as he put it.

The resignation of an official
On the other hand, the Director General of the Ministry of Finance Alain Biffany submitted his resignation from his duties that he had assumed for 20 years.

Biffany is participating in the Lebanese delegation, which is negotiating the International Monetary Fund to obtain financial aid to get Lebanon out of its economic crisis.

It is noteworthy that differences arose within the Lebanese delegation, which is negotiating the IMF as a result of the conflict in assessing the size of the financial losses incurred by Lebanon, between the government team, the Bank of Lebanon and the Parliamentary Finance Committee.

In parallel, activists in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon organized a demonstration to condemn the deteriorating economic and living conditions, and the high exchange rate of the dollar against the Lebanese pound.

The protesters closed a number of main roads leading to Tripoli and main roads inside the city, and some commercial establishments closed their doors to demand the government to put plans to confront the collapse of the lira exchange rate.