Report: Le Drian, Bukhari tell MPs things back to square one

French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit to Lebanon has failed to achieve any breakthrough in the Lebanese presidential file, a pro-Hezbollah newspaper said on Friday.

“It appeared once again that the Saudi stance has not changed … and this made everyone convinced that the dialogue that Speaker Nabih Berri has called for is hinging on the upcoming meeting of the representatives of the five-nation committee for Lebanon, which will be held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York before the end of this month,” al-Akhbar newspaper said.

In their meeting in Yarze with 21 Sunni MPs on Thursday, Le Drian and Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari told the conferees that “the election of a president is not imminent,” as the French envoy hinted to the lawmakers that “things have returned to square one,” the daily added.

Le Drian also said that “there is a need to look for consensual candidates” and that “the election of any of the proposed names is not possible.”

MPs who attended the meeting meanwhile told al-Akhbar that Le Drian announced that he would return to Beirut on a new visit and that his upcoming diplomatic job in Saudi Arabia will not end his role in the Lebanese file.

He also hinted that there will be a “new initiative,” the MPs added.