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    Home»News»Lebanon News
    Lebanese Presidency Addresses Controversial Sri Lankan Tea Donation
    Masr Al-Arabia
    2 Mins Read

    Lebanese Presidency Responds To Controversial Sri Lankan Tea Donation

    By Hussein YassineSeptember 9, 2020
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    Since Tuesday, social media platforms in Lebanon have been flooded with tweets blasting Lebanese President Michel Aoun over a Sri Lankan tea donation that has been distributed instead to the presidential guards.

    In response to the wave of outrage on social media, the presidency has issued a statement, addressing the controversial issue.

    According to the statement, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Beirut had informed the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, on August 11th, of a diplomatic shipment coming to Beirut.

    الرئيس عون التقى سفيرة سريلانكا في لبنان، التي نقلت اليه تعازي بلادها بضحايا انفجار مرفأ بيروت، وأعلنت ان سريلانكا قدمت ١٦٧٥ كيلوغراماً من الشاي السيلاني لصالح المتضررين من الانفجار، معتبرة ان مثل هذه المساعدة تعبّر عن الصداقة التي تجمع الشعبين اللبناني والسريلانكي pic.twitter.com/gMUym7RpvR

    — Lebanese Presidency (@LBpresidency) August 24, 2020

    The said shipment contained a thousand packages of special foodstuffs to be distributed free of charge in addition to 1,675 kilograms of Ceylon tea.

    The presidency stated that the tea donation was “a gift to His Excellency President General Michel Aoun to express the solidarity and friendship between Sri Lanka and Lebanon.”

    Moreover, on August 14th, the Lebanese Army Command informed the departments of the Presidential Palace that the shipment had arrived and “requested to receive the portion related to the donation to the President of the Republic, and that was done accordingly.”

    طائرة من دولة سريلانكا تحمل مساعدات انسانية وصلت بيروت#الجيش_اللبناني #LebaneseArmy pic.twitter.com/BTMifGw4OB

    — الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) August 14, 2020

    Later, the presidency’s Information Office announced that, during the Sri Lankan ambassador’s visit to Baabda Palace on August 24th, President Aoun thanked her for presenting the donation consisting of foodstuffs and tea.

    “However,” today’s statement noted, “an error that occurred in the news showed that the thanks were for the gift of tea only. Later, President Aoun sent a letter of thanks to his Sri Lankan counterpart.”

    After having been received, “[the tea] was distributed to the soldiers in the Republican Guard Brigade in accordance with the custom of the President of the Republic to distribute gifts of food and supplies that reach him to the soldiers of the Brigade.”

    مكتب الاعلام في رئاسة الجمهورية: نستغرب كيف يستكثر بعض المعلقين، حصول عسكريي لواء الحرس الجمهوري على علبة من الشاي، علماً ان من بينهم من لحقت به اضرار جراء الانفجار في مرفأ بيروت، كسواهم من المواطنين

    — Lebanese Presidency (@LBpresidency) September 9, 2020

    With that said, the Information Office of the Lebanese President expressed surprise at how some commentators thought it to be excessive for the soldiers of the Brigade to get a pack of tea, “knowing that among them were those who had sustained damage by the explosion at Beirut Port, like other citizens.”

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