Nader Hariri Denies Meeting Aoun, Proposing Suleiman's Term Extension

The adviser of al-Mustaqbal movement leader, Nader al-Hariri, denied a meeting recently with Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun and presenting him an offer to extend the tenure of outgoing President Michel Suleiman's by one year.

Sources close to al-Mustaqbal official, who is loyal to ex-premier Saad Hariri, ruled out that Nader al-Hariri proposed on Aoun to adopt his candidacy for presidency if Suleiman's term was extended by one year to avoid vacuum.

Aoun continuously said that he will not announce his candidacy for the presidency if there was no political consensus on him.

Hariri's adviser said that he didn't hold a meeting with Aoun on Thursday evening, pointing out that he attended a meeting for the March 14 alliance leaders at the Center House to discuss the presidential deadlock.

Suleiman's six-year term ends on Sunday as fears rise that the vacuum in the country's top Christian post would affect Lebanon's power-sharing agreement under which the president should be a Maronite, the premier a Sunni and the speaker a Shiite.

Parliament has so far failed to elect a new president over differences between the March 8 and 14 alliances.

Most of the March 8 camp's MPs have boycotted five rounds of elections over their call for an agreement on a consensual president.

H.K.

D.A.