Report: Doha initiative gains momentum after Saudi-French talks

The efforts of Qatari envoy Abou Fahad Jassem Al-Thani gained momentum after the Saudi meetings with French Special Presidential Envoy for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian, a media report said.

“The Qatari envoy will have a second round of meetings with the political parties who have influence in the presidential file, but so far he has failed to find a common denominator between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces and has failed to unite them over one of the three names that he has proposed,” al-Jadeed TV quoted unnamed sources as saying.

Al-Akhbar newspaper meanwhile reported that the Saudi side expressed relief in the meeting with Le Drian that “Paris has endorsed the Saudi viewpoint regarding the Lebanese crisis as to electing a president who does not belong to any side.”

“The conferees stressed that the page has been turned on the previous French initiative and that consensual formats will be proposed in coordination with the five nations and based on the results of the first five-nation meeting in Paris and the second meeting in Doha,” the daily quoted sources as saying.

“The Riyadh meeting (between Le Drian and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan) provided a new atmosphere and overcame the differences that emerged in the latest New York meeting,” the sources added.

The sources also said that “Paris is not happy with the idea that Qatar replace it as a mediator” and that “the French want Saudi Arabia’s cover to continue the mission in coordination with the five nations, seeing as France wants to preserve its role in the region through Lebanon.”