Sheikh Bahaa Hariri posted on Tuesday a translated article that was published by the Financial Times newspaper under the title “Lebanon held hostage as it hurtles towards collapse.”
Hariri commented on the article on his official page on Twitter, saying “it’s time for the [Lebanese] state to shoulder all its responsibilities towards its people and to stand by their side in these difficult times.”
More than 3 decades after the 1975-90 civil war, the FT article said, “the Lebanese are being held hostage by sectarian cliques of warlords in suits, with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia paramilitary movement that has become a state-above-the-state, clasping the master keys.”
It is hard to overstate the plight of Lebanon, as it hurtles towards collapse. Already prostrated by a compounded financial, fiscal, debt and banking crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and port explosion squeezed any remaining life out of the economy. Lebanon’s pound currency has lost nearly 90% of its value, the FT added.