Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, told journalists in Beirut to “act civilized, act kind, act tolerant.”

One journalist said Barrack acted like a “19th-century colonial commissioner.”

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s often-fractious press corps was united in anger this week over comments by Tom Barrack, the U.S. special envoy to Syria, who warned journalists against “animalistic” behavior and told them to “act civilized.”

Faced with a media scrum during a news conference held Tuesday in the Lebanese capital Beirut with a congressional delegation, Barrack strode to the podium and peremptorily told reporters they were “going to have a different set of rules.”

“The moment that this starts becoming chaotic — like animalistic — we’re gone,” he said. “You want to kno

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