Al-Rahi to Meet Hollande during 4-Day Visit to France
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will meet with French President Francois Hollande during a four-day visit to France that will begin on Saturday, Lebanon's National News Agency reported Thursday.
The trip will be both pastoral and political and will involve meetings with Hollande, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, parliament speaker Claude Bartolone, senate speaker Gérard Larcher and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, NNA said.
Al-Akhbar daily reported Wednesday that al-Rahi had visited Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah a couple of weeks ago following a meeting he held with Hollande during the latter's recent trip to Lebanon – a claim that has been denied by the Maronite patriarchate's Vicar General Samir Mazloum.
The daily quoted alleged March 14 sources as saying that the two discussed the vacuum at the presidential post in light of a recent proposal to shorten the presidential term from six to two years as a temporary solution.
Hollande's visit to Lebanon last month involved meetings with senior officials and a visit to a Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa. He also held talks with al-Rahi and other officials.
Lebanon has been without a president since the term of president Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014.
Y.R.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/208564 |