Former Lebanese foreign minister Gebran Bassil appealed to world leaders on Wednesday to help save his country from becoming a "failed state" amid a spiraling financial crisis.
Lebanon is hoping a new government formed on Tuesday can win the financial support of donors it needs to climb from a deep economic emergency as increasingly violent protests threaten to tip the country into a more serious conflict at a time of wider regional turmoil.
Speaking to Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Bassil, who leads the largest Christian political bloc in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, said the country was a model of co-existence that could "be the real antidote to terrorism," if only kept stable.
"It's a country that we need to preserve in order to play that role and expand it, not to make it fail and become in the rank of failed states. This will not help the Lebanese. This will not help any country in the region," he said.
Analysts have said the influence of Iranian-backed Hezbollah in the newly formed cabinet, which is also supported by Bassil's party, could hurt Lebanon's ability to win foreign funds needed to meet debt obligations and stabilize its financial system.