Saudi envoy in talks with Lebanese presidential hopeful
Meeting comes ahead of key conference in Paris to chart a way out of political deadlock
The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon held talks on Thursday with the army commander emerging as a strong candidate to be the country’s new president.
The meeting between Walid AlBukhari and Gen. Joseph Aoun meeting coincided with intensified discussions between Lebanese parties to come to an agreement on a new presidential candidate.
The two men met ahead of a key conference in Paris scheduled for next Monday, attended by foreign ministers, ambassadors and advisers from the US, France, Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. Lebanon plunged into a presidential vacuum four months ago, and parliament has since failed to elect a new president after 11 voting sessions. A caretaker government headed by Najib Mikati is running the country’s affairs.
The Lebanese are counting on the possibility of the Paris meeting offering an end to the political deadlock between Hezbollah and its allies on one side and its opponents on the other.
The political crisis has been accompanied by a suffocating economic one that has exhausted Lebanese citizens who have become increasingly disillusioned by the sectarian political system.
Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces Party, said he had no objection to Gen. Aoun becoming president if it ended the stalemate. However, the Free Patriotic Movement rejects this option, and its leader Gebran Bassil fiercely criticized Gen. Aoun in a speech on Sunday.
Pierre Dukan, the coordinator for international aid for Lebanon, held talks on Thursday in Beirut with Mikati. He said his visit was part of a regional tour, which included Egypt and Jordan, in search of support for Lebanon in the field of energy.