Le Drian pins hope on Berri's dialogue as he 'resumes mission' in Beirut
French Special Presidential Envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian has arrived in Beirut "to resume his mission" as France seeks a new push to end a political crisis that has left the country without a president for over a year.
Le Drian started Tuesday his talks in Lebanon by meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail.
He later arrived in Ain el-Tineh to meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
"Le Drian and I have agreed that there is no other way but dialogue to end the presidential crisis," Berri stressed after the meeting. "This is the only option now for those who want Lebanon's interest."
In remarks published Monday, Berri had said that he's waiting for Le Drian's visit.
"My initiative is ongoing, continuous and in harmony with the French initiative. The two initiatives complement each other and their essence is the same: dialogue and consensus for the election of a president,” Berri said.
Berri and Le Drian had both called for a dialogue in September. On August 31, Berri called on the Lebanese parties to engage in seven days of dialogue in parliament prior to going to open-ended electoral sessions to choose a new president. His initiative was rejected by most of the opposition MPs and was eventually criticized by Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil.
"I expect that my initiative will be merged with Le Drian’s initiative to reach the aspired positive result through dialogue and consensus,” Berri said, ahead of Le Drian's arrival to Beirut.
Le Drian had proposed on his last visit to Lebanon to invite all those taking part in the process of electing a president to a meeting in September to achieve a consensus on the challenges and on the priority projects the future president will have to carry out, and consequently the qualities necessary for tackling them.
"I hope that Berri's initiative will pave the way for a solution," Le Drian said after meeting Mikati.
Le Drian will later meet with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel and will meet Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Thursday.
Source: Naharnet
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