Girault Returns to Lebanon as Presidential Crisis Hits Dead End
The Director of the Department of the Middle East and North Africa at the French Foreign Ministry is expected to return to Lebanon Wednesday in a visit that comes three months after a similar trip.
Jean-François Girault will reportedly continue endeavors to lessen the rift between the political arch-foes over the lingering presidential crisis.
According to An Nahar newspaper, Girault is on a double mission in Beirut as he will try to mend the gap between the presidential candidates during his meetings with Lebanese officials and nominees and he will also chair a meeting for French ambassadors in the region.
The visit of the French diplomat coincides with that of Papal envoy to Lebanon former Foreign Minister Monsignor Dominique Mamberti, who has been in Lebanon since last week.
He arrived on Friday in Lebanon on a 7-day official visit as the Vatican is seeking to press forward the election of a new head of state amid the sharp rift among the political rivals over a consensual candidate.
His visit comes in light of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's visit to Paris in May, where he met with French President Francois Hollande.
Media reports had said that France, the Vatican and al-Rahi are synchronizing their efforts to end the presidential vacuum.
Girault expressed pessimism over the protracting presidential vacuum during his last visit in February, considering an imminent breakthrough is not possible.
Lebanon has been without a president since May last year when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of his successor.
Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps have thwarted the elections.
The French diplomat had been in shuttle diplomacy where he held talks in Riyadh, Tehran, Washington and the Vatican over the presidential crisis.
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