Girault to Return Anew to Beirut over Presidential Stalemate
The Director of the Department of the Middle East and North Africa at the French Foreign Ministry Jean-François Girault will return to Lebanon after he discusses the developments regarding the presidential crisis with major powers.
An Nahar newspaper reported that Girault, who left Beirut on Friday afternoon, will return by the end of the month after conducting the necessary contacts with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Vatican.
The French diplomat met during his three-day official visit to Beirut with Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and prominent party leaders.
Sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper that Girault also held a meeting with a prominent Hizbullah official on the sidelines of a dinner banquet hosted by the French Ambassador Patrice Paoli in his honor.
According to al-Joumhouria newspaper, Girault wasn't linked to the presidential deadlock but to chair a meeting for French ambassadors in the region, in particular the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
Girault is reportedly seeking to bridge the gap between the political arch-foes over the lingering presidential crisis.
His latest visit coincided with that of Papal envoy to Lebanon former Foreign Minister Monsignor Dominique Mamberti, who left Lebanon on Thursday morning.
Mamberti pressed the importance of ending the presidential vacuum during his meeting with Lebanese officials.
Media reports had said that France, the Vatican and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi are synchronizing their efforts to end the presidential vacuum.
Lebanon has been without a president since May last year when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of his successor.
Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps have thwarted the elections.
The French diplomat had been in shuttle diplomacy where he held talks in Riyadh, Tehran, Washington and the Vatican over the presidential crisis.
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