Army chief 'unenthusiastic' as Paris talks seek to 'rescue French-Qatari initiative'
A French-U.S.-Qatari-Saudi meeting will be held in Paris in mid-January to discuss the Lebanese file, without any official or political Lebanese presence, amid an effort led by the French president to convince his allies with a plan aimed at securing the election of a president and the formation of a government in Lebanon, a media report said.
“A lot of questions are surrounding many aspects related to the meeting, including the level of representation, which is still ambiguous, in addition to the agenda and how to implement the resolutions, especially should there be an agreement on articles related to the economic and financial situation,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Speaking to the daily, informed sources ruled out such an agreement, seeing as the French “have not received clear answers from the Saudis about their intention to intervene politically or financially.”
“Riyadh is clinging to its stance, which is limited to humanitarian aid, and it does not want to support any partial Lebanese solution,” the sources added.
Observers are also waiting to see how the meeting will tackle the outcome of the contacts that Qatar held recently with several Lebanese leaders over nominating Army chief General Joseph Aoun for the presidency, which “suffered a setback due to Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil’s refusal to endorse him,” al-Akhbar said.
“This is what Qatar has recently told Saudi Arabia, in addition to informing the French that there is full coordination between it and Riyadh and that it does not at all intend to bypass Saudi Arabia in Lebanon,” the daily added.
Indications on the retreat of the Qatari endeavor meanwhile surfaced after the French defense minister said during his latest visit to Lebanon that the army chief is “unenthusiastic” for running for the presidency, al-Akhbar added.
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