Report: Le Drian to carry new ideas to Beirut

French President's Special Envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian will carry new ideas to Beirut in his upcoming visit in a bid to push the presidential election file forward, informed diplomatic sources said.

“We believe that the date of his visit is nearing and we are in constant communication with him,” the sources added, in remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper published Thursday.

Declining to reveal what the “new ideas” are, the sources said they are aimed at “speeding up the election of a president in Lebanon.”

“Credible” sources meanwhile quoted senior French officials as saying that Paris is counting on Le Drian’s mission in Beirut and his possible success in “convincing the political leaders in Lebanon to engage in a presidential solution.”

“It would be naive to suppose that Le Drian would come to Beirut empty-handed, seeing as it seems that he will come with a double impetus -- one from the five-nation committee according to a plan for a swift presidential solution for Lebanon and another from the Elysee, which will strongly support him given that the presidential file in Lebanon is at the heart of French President Emmanuel Macron’s priorities and because he is determined to find a quick and consensual solution for it,” the French officials said.