Hariri Holds Talks with Franjieh in Bnashii

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri held talks Monday evening in Bnashii with Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh.

Hariri was accompanied by his advisers Ghattas Khoury and Nader Hariri, state-run National News Agency reported.

On Marada's side, the meeting was attended by Culture Minister Rony Araiji, ex-minister Youssef Saade, Franjieh's son Tony and the lawyer Youssef Finianos.

MTV said the meeting would be followed by a dinner banquet and a possible closed-door meeting between Hariri and Franjieh.

The two leaders will not make televised statements after the talks, the TV network added.

MTV later reported that the meeting will be "decisive."

According to MTV, the meeting comes after rumors claiming that Hariri has informed Hizbullah that he has decided to endorse Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun for the presidency.

The rumors were however denied by both Hariri sources and Bnashii sources, the TV network said.

Hariri had returned Saturday to Beirut from a several-week foreign trip during which he shuttled between Europe and Saudi Arabia.

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.

Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate 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, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties.

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.