Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Qatari envoy explores views of Lebanese officials on next president

Qatari envoy explores views of Lebanese officials on next president

Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday praised Qatar’s contributions to helping Lebanon through its political and economic crises during a meeting with the Gulf state’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al-Khulaifi.
Mikati also highlighted the strong ties between the two states during talks with the visiting Qatari envoy.

Mikati thanked Qatar “once again for supporting the Lebanese army and enabling it to carry out its responsibilities,” according to his media office.

The Qatar official’s visit comes within the framework of the French-Arab-American endeavor to find solutions to the presidential vacuum in Lebanon, which has entered its sixth month as Parliament has held 11 failed voting sessions.

Meanwhile, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Lebanese Kataeb, and the Progressive Socialist Party are rejecting the candidate put forward by Hezbollah and its allies, MP Suleiman Frangieh.

In talks with Al-Khulaifi, Mikati discussed the situation in Lebanon and efforts by the caretaker government to tackle emergency cases as permitted by the constitution, his media office said.

He added that the solution to the crises affecting Lebanon lies in electing a president as soon as possible.

Al-Khulaifi also met Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi and head of the Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel.

He later met Hussein Khalil, the political adviser to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in the presence of the head of Hezbollah’s Coordination and Liaison Unit, Wafiq Safa.

Following his meeting with Al-Khulaifi, Gemayel said the Qatari delegation was exploring views and trying to understand the reality of the situation in Lebanon.

“The delegation is putting itself at the disposal of Lebanon to help it and in full coordination with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, and we expressed our openness and readiness to discuss our positions.”

Gemayel stressed that Qatar and Saudi Arabia will always stand by Lebanon and defend it against any undue foreign interference.

Al-Khulaifi represented Qatar in the five-party meeting held in Paris on Feb. 6 to discuss the Lebanese issue, which also included France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the US.

Doha had previously played a role in easing Lebanon’s previous crises, including in 2008, when the Doha agreement was reached between Lebanese political forces, ending an 18-month presidential vacuum.

The Lebanese opposition, made up mostly of Christian parties, is apprehensive about the guarantees that Hezbollah’s presidential candidate can provide and doubts that he can adhere to them against the backdrop of previous failures.

One political observer said: “Hezbollah and its political team had previously pledged in the Doha agreement not to topple the government, but it used the ‘blocking third’ in 2010 and deployed its members in Beirut, threatening in 2011 to impose Mikati as prime minister instead of the return of Saad Hariri at the time to head the government.”

The source added: “Hezbollah and its team agreed in the Doha agreement to dissociate themselves from the conflicts in the region in 2012, then retracted from that by involving Lebanon in the Syrian war, intervening in Yemen and launching campaigns against Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, former President Michel Aoun — an ally of Hezbollah — turned into a protector of the party after he had pledged to adopt an independent approach.”

The Lady of the Mountain gathering, which opposes Hezbollah, said on Monday: “The presidential crisis is not a Christian one, but rather a reflection of a major national crisis represented by Hezbollah’s attempt to impose its will on the Lebanese when it comes to the presidency, and in the choices of the state as a whole, because Lebanon is under Iranian occupation.”

Lebanon is scheduled to hold municipal elections in May. Last year’s elections were postponed because they coincided with parliamentary elections.

Although Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi set the date of the elections for May on Monday, he said that holding them depends on whether the necessary funds can be secured.

“Part of the cost of holding the elections is covered by the UNDP, but there are costs that the state must secure, even if they have to be from the Special Drawing Rights — known as SDRs — of the International Monetary Fund,” Mawlawi said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×