Aoun Meets EU Delegation, British Ambassador

Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun held separate talks on Friday with a European Union delegation and British Ambassador to Lebanon Hugo Shorter, state-run National News Agency reported.

The EU delegation was led by Lars Ottosson, a member of the Sweden Democrats party.

"The meeting was special and rich with General Aoun and its focused on the Christian situation in the Middle East and the relations between the Christian and Muslim religions," the EU official said.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.