Report: Paris recommends that Franjieh withdraw from race

“Important developments” over the past few days have pushed France to believe that Suleiman Franjieh’s nomination for the presidency has reached a dead end, a media report said.

“Through contacts that she made over the past 48 hours, French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo informed those concerned that her country has turned the page on Franjieh and that he has no other choice but to announce his withdrawal from the presidential race, knowing that he has not officially announced his nomination,” the Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported.

As for French presidential envoy Patrick Durel’s latest visit to Riyadh, the daily said that the French official carried Franjieh’s presidential pledges to the Saudi capital.