Exclusive, "Akhbar al-Yawm" agency

Diplomat to "Akhbar al-Yawm": there is an opportunity that must be seized

In the past few weeks, the US-French coordination became clear and led to an agreement on the Lebanese file, as the visit of French Foreign Minister Stephane Séjourné to Beirut, appeared different in content from the meetings held previously by the presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian.

A diplomat briefed on the meetings of Séjourné to Beirut, said via the "Akhbar al-Yawm" agency that "the French minister meets with the American envoy Amos Hochstein regarding the issue of the Lebanese file, pointing out that the American-French Harmony has returned to its previous positive era".

He added: "As for the delay in confirming the agreement, it is due to the different approaches between the two sides, as Washington wants the solution in Lebanon to be comprehensive, while Paris called for the completion of the presidential election at an initial stage and leaving the rest of the files, including the government and reforms".

Denying that the issue of the presidency in Lebanon is related to the US elections in November, and therefore the file will be moved to next year, the same diplomat said: "if the war in Lebanon subsides and there is no escalation, there is a possibility of reaching a certain conclusion about the presidency of the Republic".

In a related context, he pointed out that the remark made by the foreign minister in more than one meeting about the possibility of holding early parliamentary elections was remarkable.

In the event of the election of a president of the Republic, albeit before the municipal and mayoral elections (which will be a year later if the appeal is not accepted and there are no developments calling for a fourth extension), he added: "the French minister did not receive any clear answers, but he heard in one of the meetings that: How are we going to hold early parliamentary elections when we can't hold municipal elections?!".