“New Situation” Makes Kouchner “Less Confident” Over Solving Impasse
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday he was “less confident” about reaching a solution to Lebanon”s political crisis as he returned to the country for his sixth visit in as many months.
“There is a new situation, I am less confident now. It”s more complicated,” said Kouchner, one of several foreign diplomats to visit Lebanon in recent days in a bid to mediate an end to the deadlock over choosing the next president.
Despite intense international pressure, rival political factions have been unable to agree on a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term is set to expire.
The French minister said there was “a split in the Christian camp” referring to Lebanese Christians divided
between a pro-Western ruling coalition and Syrian-backed opposition.
Despite intense international pressure, many fear the two factions may miss a final November 23 deadline to elect a new president, plunging the country into chaos.
There is also concern that the dispute could lead to two rival governments, echoing the dark final years of Lebanon”s 1975-1990 civil war when two competing administrations battled for control.
Kouchner arrived in Beirut late Sunday for a series meetings with Lebanese leaders to try to forge an agreement ahead of a parliamentary vote to elect a new president on Wednesday.
Arab League Chief Amr Mussa was also due in the Lebanese capital having received “positive signs” from parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri and parliament speaker and opposition leader Nabih Berri, a League official said in Cairo.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned earlier Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and Berri.
The state-run National News Agency quoted Rice as saying the U.S. “supports electing a president that enjoys the support of all the Lebanese.”
Rice also called legislator Saad Hariri, who leads the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority in Lebanon, and Cardinal Sfeir, the head of the influential Maronite Catholic Church. Under Lebanon”s political system, the president must be Maronite, the country”s largest Christian sect.
The political deadlock prompted foreign dignitaries, including UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the foreign ministers of France and Italy, to visit Lebanon in recent weeks for talks with Lebanon”s feuding leaders.
Maronite cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, who heads Lebanon”s largest Christian community from which the president is chosen, injected fresh momentum into the search for a solution on Friday, when he drew up a list of candidates which was discussed Saturday by Hariri and Berri.
MP Ali Hassan Khalil from Berri”s Amal movement told AFP that the pair were continuing to work together to find a consensus candidate.
“Berri is committed to reaching an agreement,” he stressed.