Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm tendered her resignation on Monday (August 10), the third member of the Lebanese government to leave after the deadly explosion in the port of Beirut, an official told AFP.
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" The minister has tendered her resignation, " said the Justice Ministry official. On Sunday, Information Ministers Manal Abdel and Environment Ministers Damianos Kattar left the government of Hassan Diab.
On the same day, during a videoconference co-organized by the UN and France to help Lebanon, 252.7 million euros in aid - immediate or available in the short term - were collected to help the victims of the huge explosion, according to the French presidency. The international community affirmed that it was not going " to let down " the country of the Cedars, but demanded that its aid be " directly " distributed to the population and that a " transparent " investigation be carried out into the causes of the disaster.
The explosion left Tuesday, August 4, 158 dead and 6,000 injured according to an official report. Twenty people are still missing but hope of finding survivors is dwindling, the army said. It was caused by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored for six years at the port of Beirut " without precautionary measures ", according to Hassan Diab.
On Sunday, in the emblematic Place des Martyrs, hundreds of demonstrators gathered again, waving Lebanese flags, against a background of patriotic songs. Tents have been set up to distribute bread, water and hot meals. Later, on an avenue leading to Parliament, demonstrators threw stones and fired fireworks at the police who responded with tear gas, an AFP correspondent found. The demonstrators chanted “ Revolution revolution! With some trying to climb the massive iron barricades erected by the police in the Parliament area.
The Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, called a meeting of Parliament on Thursday "to question the government on the crime which struck the capital".
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