Report: Lebanon to have president before year's end, war ruled out

Lebanon is “governed by stability and security and its civil peace will not be shaken,” a senior Lebanese leader has quoted a prominent international envoy as saying.

The envoy had visited Lebanon recently, the senior leader told the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, in remarks published Friday.

“Lebanon’s stability is a domestic need as much as it is a foreign need, specifically for the neighboring countries, and all the talk about possible security incidents that might spread across Lebanon is aimed at intimidation and imposing political facts under the pressure of the need of the Lebanese for safety,” the envoy reportedly said.

The political leader added that “a Qatari security envoy will arrive in Beirut at the end of this week and will prepare for the post-Le Drian period, or for the arrival of an envoy who also represents the Arab and international quintet and who will carry political, economic and financial orientations.”

“The ruling establishment will become before two choices: electing a president who is not a party and who would be the gateway for salvation -- seeing as the Gulf has finalized its preparations for major investments in Lebanon -- or continuing with the same obstructive and intimidating approach which will push Lebanon into a new abyss from which there can be no salvation,” the leader quoted the envoy as saying.

“Lebanon will have a president before the end of this year if things go as planned,” the leader added, noting that “the messages sent by the White House’s top energy adviser Amos Hochstein during his visit to Lebanon firmly confirm that the era of stability will begin.”

“His visits to Raouche, which is open to all directions, and to Hezbollah’s bastion Baalbek are a practical and executive message that things are headed to a solution and not to war,” the senior leader added.