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Kouchner in Lebanon Cautiously Optimistic
Mohamad Shmaysani
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Tuesday launched a fresh bid to break a political impasse in Lebanon that is threatening to derail the election of a president by a November 23 deadline. His visit, the fifth in recent months, comes amid a flurry of diplomatic initiatives to nudge the country's rival camps to agree on a consensus candidate to replace the current head of state Emile Lahoud, whose mandate expires November 24. Parliament speaker Nabih Berri has already postponed three times special sessions for MPs to elect a successor to Lahoud and there are fears a last-ditch parliament session set for November 21 could also end in failure.
Kouchner met on Tuesday with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki. He told reporters after his first meeting with the patriarch that France was "deeply committed" to helping Lebanon break its one-year political deadlock. The French top diplomat expresses "cautious optimism," adding that Sfeir did not refuse to set a "list of some candidates."
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Tuesday launched a fresh bid to break a political impasse in Lebanon that is threatening to derail the election of a president by a November 23 deadline. His visit, the fifth in recent months, comes amid a flurry of diplomatic initiatives to nudge the country's rival camps to agree on a consensus candidate to replace the current head of state Emile Lahoud, whose mandate expires November 24. Parliament speaker Nabih Berri has already postponed three times special sessions for MPs to elect a successor to Lahoud and there are fears a last-ditch parliament session set for November 21 could also end in failure.
Kouchner met on Tuesday with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki. He told reporters after his first meeting with the patriarch that France was "deeply committed" to helping Lebanon break its one-year political deadlock. The French top diplomat expresses "cautious optimism," adding that Sfeir did not refuse to set a "list of some candidates."
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Kouchner told reporters that he would also meet Berri, the head of the unconstitutional government Fouad Saniora and a number of other politicians before holding more talks with Sfeir later in the day. Berri and Hariri have both accepted that Sfeir sets a list of consensus candidates, in coordination with Christian leaderships from the opposition and the loyalty blocs.
Lebanese media has reported that the French this time have the blessing of Washington in their mediation. Kouchner's visit followed one last week by President Nicholas Sarkozy to Washington, where he discusses a variety of issues, mainly Lebanon.
Sfeir had said he would not personally get involved in naming candidates, leaving it to Maronite leaderships to set the list. Well informed sources attributed Sfeir's position to a desire by Bkirki not to bare the consequences of future actions which a president it names could undertake during his term. Worth mentioning; the French ? Syrian agreement, in this framework, states that Sfeir would name one candidate who does not conceal animosity towards Damascus or the resistance; a candidate who would be directly promoted by France locally and internationally.