Former Minister Salim Jreissati said on Tuesday that Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil did not commit a protocol mistake in terms of last week's visit to Lebanon by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, urging sides to care about the “essence” of the issue instead of its formalities.
Some officials said that Bassil had committed a protocol blunder when he refused to receive UN chief Ban Ki-moon, World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim and Islamic Development Bank head Ahmad al-Madani at the airport.
UN’s Ban concluded on Friday a two-day visit to Lebanon during which he paid a visit to Syrian refugee encampments.
Following the bloc’s weekly meeting, Jreissati noted that “the state security agency is financially and politically blockaded,” adding that the blockade needs to be lifted in a bid to fight espionage and terrorism.”
“Who gave Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil the right to blockade the state security agency?” he asked.