Ambassadors who met Berri 'didn't propose initiative or candidate'

The ambassadors of the five-nation group for Lebanon did not propose an initiative or a presidential candidate in their meeting Tuesday with Speaker Nabih Berri, a source informed on the meeting said.

“They presented their role as a support front and told the Lebanese to choose the candidates after consultations and support and assistance” from the five-nation group, the source told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.

Sources following up on the issue also told the daily that the group has called on Lebanese officials to “engage in dialogue and reach consensus on any candidate that they want to elect, because time no longer allows for further delay amid these regional circumstances.”

Sources from Berri's parliamentary bloc meanwhile told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that "the most important thing in this meeting was consensus on the need to finalize the presidential juncture separately from the war on Gaza."