Al-Rahi Meets Hollande on Fourth Day of France Trip

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi held talks on Tuesday with French President Francois Hollande in Paris.

The patriarch left the 50-minute meeting at the Elysee Palace without making a statement, reported the National News Agency.

Al-Rahi kicked off his visit to France on Saturday where he met with a number of officials.

He held his Sunday sermon at Paris' Our Lady of Lebanon church during which he stressed the need to end the presidential vacuum in Lebanon, condemning the lawmakers' failure to hold the polls.

MTV said that Hollande had pledged to al-Rahi that his country will present an initiative to provide the needed conditions to hold the elections.

Informed sources had told An Nahar daily on Tuesday that al-Rahi will exert upon his return to Beirut efforts to end the vacuum.

Lebanon has been without a president since May when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.

Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the election.

Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance and MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform blocs have been boycotting the polls over the dispute.

M.T.

H.K.