Lebanon's Mikati reports progress, albeit slow, towards forming government

FILE PHOTO: Prime Minister-Designate Najib Mikati, speaks at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 28, 2021. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said on Thursday progress, albeit slow, has been achieved toward forming a Cabinet in Lebanon, noting that donor states would not help the country unless it helped itself.

Lebanon has been without a government since Prime Minister Hassan Diab quit in the aftermath of the catastrophic Aug. 4, 2020, port explosion, with politicians failing to agree even as the country has been paralysed by a major financial crisis.