NNA
Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Friday renewed his condemnation of the attack on the US embassy in Lebanon, stressing that “the security services are intensifying their investigations to uncover the circumstances of the attack and those involved in it.”
Caretaker Premier Mikati said during his meeting with US Ambassador to Lebanon,Dorothy Shea, this afternoon at the Grand Serail: “We express our absolute rejection of attacks on diplomatic missions and we consider the attack on the American embassy an attack on Lebanon’s sovereignty and security.”
Following the meeting, Ambassador Shea said:
“Good afternoon. I would just like to say a quick word having just met with His Excellency Najib Mikati.
I want to acknowledge and welcome the statements of solidarity that have come from the country’s political leaders, including His Excellency himself, Mr. Mikati, but also from political leaders across the spectrum, and political parties, and other key security partners. This means a lot to us at the U.S. embassy, and we know that the authorities are investigating this incident, whereby a gunman fired shots toward the U.S. embassy the other night. We appreciate the commitment that our security partners have told us — and the political leaders of this country — that they will spare no effort in investigating this incident, so that they can track down the perpetrator and hold him to account.
And please know that we at the U.S. embassy are not intimidated by this incident, and our security protocols are very strong and our partnerships are ironclad. We are continuing normal business operations at the embassy, and it was in that spirit, too, that I just had a very robust exchange of views with the Prime Minister. We discussed his meetings at the United Nations General Assembly, including with leaders from my own country, but also in the General Assembly itself. We discussed the political impasse here in Lebanon, as well as the economic situation.
I always welcome the chance to have this kind of exchange of views, and we both believe that the time is now, the situation is urgent, and we need to take action to get the decisions made and the people in the offices that need to be there, so that these long-overdue reforms can finally be enacted and implemented, and we can get the Lebanese economy back on track. Thank you.”