US calls for political change and end to rot in Beirut, says no bailoutU.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, center right, visit the site of the August 4 explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, August 15. There can be no financial bailout for Lebanon, a senior U.S. official said Saturday, calling on the country’s political leaders to heed popular calls for change, real reform and an end to endemic corruption. But he didn’t detail whether the U.S. and Western allies are ready to support a government in which Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah group has clout. “We can never go back to an era in which anything goes at the port or borders of Lebanon,” Hale said.

Source: The Standard August 16, 2020 07:27 UTC