Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh on Sunday denied reports that the Francophone gathering, scheduled for the end of October, had been called off because of the attacks on the United States.
“The summit has not been postponed. Contrary to what has been reported, the decision has not been taken,” Salameh said, cited by the Beirut-based Daily Star.
“Lebanon supports holding it on the scheduled dates, and no member state has so far asked for it to be postponed,” said the summit’s chief organizer.
He said that “consultations which take some time are continuing” with the 55 member countries of the Francophonie organization.
“We are monitoring international developments and the decisions of other UN organizations, and next week things will have crystallized,” he said.
A final decision will be made at the cabinet meeting Thursday, he said.
“Until an official decision is taken, confusion will continue in the media. Everyone is analyzing. Don’t jump to conclusions,” Salameh said.
Radio France Internationale reported early Sunday that the October 26-28 summit had been postponed for a year. An official announcement was due at the start of the week, it said.
But Salameh said the report was incorrect. “We don’t have any new information that allows us to make a decision,” he said. “This is only an assumption. As for Lebanon, nothing has changed since last Friday. There will be no decision taken before Thursday.”
Salameh himself noted Friday that the IMF, the World Bank, the Commonwealth and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization had “postponed or are thinking about postponing meetings” because of the crisis – Albawaba.com
