President Michel Aoun stressed Tuesday that Lebanon is bearing the dire consequences of regional wars and their economic ramifications, not to mention the heavy weight of the Syrian influx, now that the number of refugees has exceeded 1 million and 850 thousand.
President Aoun was addressing a visiting Monacan delegation at Baabda Palace, including Minister of Foreign Relations and Cooperation of the Principality of Monaco, Gilles Tonelli, Director of International Cooperation in the Principality of Monaco, Bénédicte Schutz, Coordinator of Development and Humanitarian Programs at Monaco's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emilie Larese-Silvestre, Lebanon project Manager, Elodie Martin, and the Consul of Monaco in Lebanon, Bechara El-Khoury.
Separately, the president received a delegation from the committee of families of kidnapped and missing persons in Lebanon, he emphasized the importance of their righteous cause, "which affects the Lebanese people as a whole, from all sects and political affiliations."