LBCI TV reported that a meeting is taking place between the head of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Franjieh, and Hezbollah on Monday evening. The meeting is being held away from the media, where Franjieh will report to the party the details of his visit to France, noting that Franjieh was communicating from Paris with officials in the party to put them in the picture .
Franjieh returned to Lebanon after France decided to invite more presidential candidates .
This reportedly does not mean that the visit of the head of the “Marada Movement” chief Suleiman Franjieh to Paris ended his chances for being considered for the position . On the other hand his visit did not help him In improving his standing , An Nahar daily reported on Sunday
In other words he is still being considered , but this time he will be compared to other candidates .
This may also mean that the formula that the French initiated in offering a package that included Franjieh as the president and ambassador Nawwaf Salam as the PM is dead.
This also means that several candidates will be soon heading to Paris to meet the French officials who are handling the Lebanese file .
The list of candidates that will be receiving the invitations has not been made public .
France reportedly is coordinating with its 4 partners this issue, namely ; Egypt US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
On Monday a delegation from Qatar met with several Lebanese officials to discuss the issue of finding a unifying candidate for the presidential post . No details were made public about any possible candidates but according to several analysts , Army chief General Joseph Aoun may be one of the most likely candidates that is being considered.
Qatar is reportedly coordinating this visit with Saudi Arabia.
There was more speculation in Lebanon about Franjieh’s position
Some are speculating that Franjieh may declare that he is not in the running after meeting Hezbollah tonight . After all he never officially announced his candidacy, precisely to avoid the humiliation of being forced to backtrack on this
Others are speculating that Egypt proposed to ask Iran to join the group of 5
This is a developing story , more to follow
Here is an update
The Qatar delegation was headed by Minister of State at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi.
The Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Lebanese Phalange and the Progressive Socialist Party are opposed to Franjieh. They want a president that will unify the country
Al-Khulaifi met PM Najib Mikati, Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai and head of the phlange Party MP Sami Gemayel.
He also met Hussein Khalil, the political adviser to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in the presence of the head of Hezbollah’s top security official Wafiq Safa.
Following his meeting with Al-Khulaifi, Gemayel said the Qatari delegation was exploring views and trying to understand the reality of the situation in Lebanon.
“The delegation is putting itself at the disposal of Lebanon to help it and in full coordination with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, and we expressed our openness and readiness to discuss our positions.”
Gemayel stressed that Qatar and Saudi Arabia will always stand by Lebanon and defend it against any undue foreign interference.
Al-Khulaifi represented Qatar in the five-party meeting held in Paris on Feb. 6 to discuss the Lebanese issue, which also included France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the US.
Doha had previously played a role in easing Lebanon’s previous crises, including in 2008, when the Doha agreement was reached between Lebanese political forces, ending an 18-month presidential vacuum.
The Lebanese opposition is apprehensive about the guarantees that Hezbollah’s presidential candidate can provide and doubts that he can adhere to them against the backdrop of previous failures.
One political observer said: “Hezbollah and its political team had previously pledged in the Doha agreement not to topple the government, but it used the ‘blocking third’ in 2010 and deployed its members in Beirut, threatening in 2011 to impose Mikati as prime minister instead of the return of Saad Hariri at the time to head the government.”
The source added: “Hezbollah and its team agreed during the national dialogue talks at the presidential palace to dissociate themselves from the conflicts in the region in 2012, then retracted from that by involving Lebanon in the Syrian war, intervening in Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait and launching campaigns against Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, former President Michel Aoun — an ally of Hezbollah — turned into a protector of the party after he had pledged to adopt an independent approach.”
News Agencies
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