Lebanon agrees new government to tackle economic collapse

FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's new Prime Minister-Designate Najib Mikati, gestures as he talks at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 26, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanese leaders agreed a new government led by Sunni Muslim tycoon Najib Mikati https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/sunni-tycoon-mikati-leads-lebanons-first-government-year-2021-09-10 on Friday after a year of feuding over cabinet seats that has exacerbated a devastating economic collapse, opening the way to a resumption of talks with the IMF.

The breakthrough followed a flurry of contacts with France, which has led efforts to get Lebanon's fractious leaders to agree a cabinet and begin reforms since last year's catastrophic Beirut port explosion, senior Lebanese political sources said.