Ortagus urges 'hard decisions' from Lebanon, hails Aoun and Salam
Morgan Ortagus, the U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East, has noted that Lebanon will not make improvements without taking “hard decisions.”
“You need leaders of courage, like the president (Joseph Aoun), like the prime minister (Nawaf Salam) … who are willing to make the hard and tough decisions on reform, to bring the economy back, the bring the country back, to make sure that the state has the monopoly of weapons, the state provides services,” said Ortagus at a reception at the Lebanese Embassy in Washington on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
“I believe that we are going to enter a new era for Lebanon, an era that’s greater than Lebanon has ever seen, and if you choose to do that, if you make the tough decisions … I can promise you that President Trump and his administration (and) the United States of America will be there with you,” Ortagus added.
“But we can’t go back, we can’t repeat the past mistakes. We have to move forward and the only way to move forward is by strengthening the state, by reforming and by totally revitalizing the country -- I don’t wanna even say to the glory and greatness, because we’re gonna go into a new and better era,” she went on to say.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://test.naharnet.com/stories/en/312360 |