BEIRUT: British Ambassador Tom Fletcher revealed that his country was joining forces with France, the United States and Saudi Arabia to end the presidential void in Lebanon.
In comments to Al-Mustaqbal newspaper published Sunday, Fletcher said that contacts had been made between Britain, France, the United States and Saudi Arabia “to work toward ending the presidential void but without interfering in the operation of choosing the next president.”
Fletcher said London, Paris, Washington and Riyadh had agreed to take up a neutral role and not interfere in the choice of the next president nor go into the game of names.
He added that the choice of the president was a Lebanese domestic and sovereign issue par excellence and the international community must not interfere in that realm.
Fletcher noted that Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai had expressed his anguish as a result of vacancy in the presidency during a meeting with the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
The diplomat said Rai was exerting round the clock efforts with parliamentary blocs in a bid to convince them to head to Parliament and elect a new president. Fletcher said Britain endorsed Rai’s efforts to end the presidential void, adding that he had urged various parliamentary blocs to support Rai’s initiative.
Fletcher also told Al-Mustaqbal that he was not in contact with Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc.
Lebanon has been without a president since May 25, and several sessions to elect a new head of state have so far failed.
Advertisement
No comments:
Post a Comment