French President Emmanuel Macron pressed his "risky" drive for political change in Lebanon on Tuesday, as the former French mandate marked its centenary while teetering on the brink of the abyss.
Macron has set an ambitious goal for his second visit since a deadly August 4 explosion ravaged Beirut: to press for change without being seen as a meddler.
He kicked off his trip on Monday, not by visiting political leaders, but by spending more than an hour with singing legend Fairuz, who at 85 is a rare unifying figure in Lebanon.
Macron ticked off more symbols to mark 100 years Tuesday since French mandate authorities proclaimed the creation of Greater Lebanon.
In the Jaj forest northeast of Beirut, he planted a cedar tree -- Lebanon's national symbol -- to express "confidence in the future of the country," his office said in a statement.
The French air force flew overhead leaving a trail of red, white and green smoke -- the colours of the country's flag.
Macron then returned for a second visit to Beirut port, ground zero of the colossal blast that killed more than 180 people, wounded at least 6,500 others and laid waste to entire districts of the capital.
He oversaw the distribution of aid from the the French helicopter carrier Tonnerre which arrived in Beirut on August 14.
Macron also met with some 400 French soldiers working with the Lebanese army to clear thousands of tonnes of debris from the port, vital for a country whose food is 85 percent imported.
'Demanding without interfering'
Macron will then begin the most sensitive and anticipated leg of his visit: difficult discussions with under-fire political leaders widely blamed for the explosion, which was caused by a stockpile of ammonium nitrate fertiliser that had languished in the port for years.
Upon his arrival on Monday, Macron said his position towards Lebanon's political establishment "is unchanged: demanding without interfering."
For this position to be deemed credible by disenchanted Lebanese as well as by the rest of the international community, Macron must obtain swift results.
This is why on Monday evening he called for a so-called "mission government" to spearhead reforms just hours after Lebanese President Michel Aoun designated Mustapha Adib as the country's new prime minister.
The French president said it was not his place to "approve" of the designation of Adib -- a little known 48-year-old diplomat who since 2013 had served as Lebanon's ambassador to Germany.
