Report: Paris Mulling Meeting for Rival Lebanese Officials

The French authorities are mulling to organize a meeting for Lebanese officials to resolve Lebanon's political crisis and “salvage its constitutional institutions,” An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday.

Paris could invite the Lebanese rival parties to a meeting similar to the one that former Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner organized in Saint-Cloud in 2007, An Nahar said.

The French Foreign Ministry is still studying the possibility of holding such a conference, which could be decided after several meetings between high-ranking officials, the latest of which were talks held by FM Laurent Fabius and his Saudi Counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal.

According to the daily, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry could also discuss the probability of holding such a conference on the sidelines of a meeting he will hold in Paris with his Arab counterparts and Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on the Middle East peace process.

Paris “is seeking to salvage (Lebanon's) constitutional institutions from the danger of vacuum,” An Nahar said, adding that it has set as a priority the formation of a new cabinet.

A meeting held between French Foreign Ministry officials and Hizbullah MP Ali Fayyad last week had huge importance, in particular after the European Union put the party's military wing on the list of its terror organizations in July.

The talks with Fayyad were a sign that Paris was willing to revive dialogue with Hizbullah in preparation for the role it wants to play to resolve Lebanon's crisis, An Nahar said.