Davutoglu, Bin Jassem Back 'Efforts Aimed at Preserving Lebanon Stability'

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday held phone talks with Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani on the political crisis in Lebanon, Turkey's foreign ministry announced in a statement.

The two men "exchanged points of view regarding the crisis in Lebanon and efforts made to form a new government."

The statement added that the two sides stressed "the importance of backing all efforts aimed at preserving Lebanon's stability, security and national unity."

On January 20 Turkey and Qatar abandoned efforts to break the deadlock between rival parties in Lebanon's political crisis, a day after Saudi Arabia also threw in the towel.

After two days of intensive talks in Beirut, Davutoglu and Sheikh Hamad had said they were suspending the negotiations.

The Turkish and Qatari officials said they were leaving Beirut after meeting with the various parties because of reservations over a draft agreement they had submitted.

Our "efforts resulted in a working draft that takes into account political and legal demands to resolve the current crisis in Lebanon based on the Syrian-Saudi initiative," they said in a statement.

"But given certain reservations, (we) decided to suspend efforts in Lebanon for the time being and to leave Beirut in order to consult with (our) leadership," added the statement, which did not elaborate.