French Diplomat Says Macron to Unveil Plan to Help Lebanon

French President Emmanuel Macron will unveil a "comprehensive plan" to assist Lebanon, a French diplomatic source said on Wednesday.

The plan “might include the opening of lines of credit,” the source told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath TV.

“We are discussing the issue of Lebanon with the Americans and our Gulf partners,” the source added, noting that French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will carry to Lebanon this week “a message of solidarity with its people and a message of firmness towards its authorities.”

“Six months since its formation, Lebanon’s government has not carried any fundamental reform,” the source lamented, noting that “Lebanon is not a lost cause and abandoning it means opening its arena to others.”

Noting that the Lebanese crisis is of importance to “everyone in the region and beyond the region,” the source said Paris supports Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s call for neutrality.

“Neutrality is not only the patriarch’s stance and France appreciates his stance,” the source went on to say.