Report: Hariri Meets Girault, Pays Jabal Mohsen Compensations

The head of al-Mustaqbal Movement ex-premier Saad Hariri reportedly transferred compensations for the residents of the northern neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen who were harmed by the latest bombing in the area.

According to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Saturday, the money was transferred to the Interior Ministry, which will supervise the spending.

The money will reportedly be distributed next week.

Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq revealed on Sunday that Hariri will compensate the residents of Jabal Mohsen.

“The Hariri foundation will reconstruct all the damages,” he told reporters.

Two suicide bombers killed nine people and wounded 37 others in an attack on a cafe in the flashpoint Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen.

Residents of Jabal Mohsen support Syria's President Bashar Assad, who belongs to an Alawite clan, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, that has ruled the war-torn country for more than 40 years.

Meanwhile, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported that Director of the department of the Middle East and North Africa at the French Foreign Ministry Jean-François Girault met with Hariri in Riyadh last week.

The newspaper said that Girault briefed al-Mustaqbal chief on his talks with Iranian and Saudi officials regarding the presidential standstill.

The French official informed Hariri that Iran is ready to deal in a flexible manner with the crisis.

Girault will head to the Vatican at the beginning of next week to discuss the matter, and is expected to return to Lebanon at the end of the month.

Girault last visited Lebanon in December, where he met during his two-day visit with prominent Lebanese officials.

The French diplomat was tasked by French President Francois Hollande to try to reach a breakthrough over the presidential elections in Lebanon.

Lebanon has been left without a president since May, when the tenure of Suleiman ended, because of sharp differences between the rival March 8 and March 14 alliances.

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