Le Drian arrives in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders
French special presidential envoy for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived Tuesday in Beirut on a several-day official visit.
Le Drian is scheduled to meet with a number of political leaders to discuss the country’s presidential election crisis. He had first visited Lebanon in his capacity as special envoy in June.
Le Drian met earlier this month with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, a day after representatives of France, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt met in Doha to discuss the Lebanese file.
In a statement issued after the Doha meeting, the five-nation group threatened “measures” against the Lebanese parties who are “blocking progress” in the stalled presidential election file, calling for a new president who “embodies integrity, unites the nation, puts the interests of the country first, prioritizes the well-being of its citizens, and forms a broad and inclusive coalition to implement essential economic reforms.”
Meanwhile, sources told ad-Diyar newspaper, in remarks published Monday, that Le Drian's visit is aimed at searching for new options and will likely not break the presidential impasse.
The sources expected a protracted deadlock until the five nations' next meeting in September.
"Lebanese parties are betting on the Saudi-Iranian and the American-Iranian understandings. The Shiite Duo is hoping these agreements would be in favor of its candidate Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh, while other parties believe that these foreign understandings might boost the chances of Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun," the sources said.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/299199 |