Report: US, KSA end French role, reject Franjieh's election

Washington, Riyadh and Doha have voiced a unified stance rejecting the continuation of the French efforts in the Lebanese presidential file, a media report said.

They have “refused to grant Paris any additional timeframe, considering the settlement plan it had proposed and worked on as finished,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

“The U.S. and Saudi sides have announced a notable stance by rejecting the nomination of Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh and prominent U.S. officials have told their French counterparts that Washington wants Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun as president,” the daily quoted a political leader as saying.

“Saudi Arabia meanwhile said that the army commander is not its candidate but that it does not oppose his election. It also said that it rejects the settlement calling for Franjieh’s election that the French had proposed as a result of negotiations they held with Hezbollah,” the political leader added.