Qatari envoy to visit Beirut, Doha talks to focus on 4 candidates

A Qatari envoy will visit Lebanon in the next few days to hold discussions over the stalled presidential file, a political source said.

“The Qatari ambassador paved the way for this visit and the Qatari efforts have been active in Lebanon behind the scenes for a while now,” the source added, in remarks to ad-Diyar newspaper published Sunday.

“Several ideas and formulas will be discussed (at the meeting of the five-nation committee on Lebanon) in Doha and all are based on reaching an understanding or an agreement among the Lebanese parties through dialogue,” the daily added.

“Among the ideas is proposing a package of four names for the presidency -- Suleiman Franjieh, Army chief General Joseph Aoun and two other candidates,” the newspaper said.

The four candidates will be proposed “in parallel with discussing the elements of the post-election period, which include the government’s shape and policies, especially reformist policies,” ad-Diyar added.