عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Le Drian Concludes New Round of Presidential Talks in Lebanon

Le Drian met with Sunni deputies at the Saudi Ambassador’s residence in Beirut. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Le Drian met with Sunni deputies at the Saudi Ambassador’s residence in Beirut. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
TT

Le Drian Concludes New Round of Presidential Talks in Lebanon

Le Drian met with Sunni deputies at the Saudi Ambassador’s residence in Beirut. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Le Drian met with Sunni deputies at the Saudi Ambassador’s residence in Beirut. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

French Presidential Envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian is set to conclude his mission in Beirut on Friday with a second meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri, amid expectations that he would return to Lebanon to facilitate the election of a new president.

The Lebanese parliament has been unable to elect a new president for the country since the end of the term of Michel Aoun on Nov. 1, 2022.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Berri described the discussions with the French envoy as “excellent”. He stressed that dialogue was not only a demand made by Le Drian, “but rather an Arab and international request because it is the only way out of this crisis.”

During his visit to Beirut, Le Drian met separately with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai in Bkirki, and with a number of independent deputies at the French embassy in Beirut. He also held talks with Sunni MPs, in the presence of Grand Mufti Abdullatif Derian and Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari at the latter’s residence in Beirut.

MP Ashraf Rifi said the French envoy’s meeting with Sunni representatives was aimed at facilitating the process of electing a president. He pointed to efforts that might lead to a settlement on the election of Army Commander General Joseph Aoun.

Referring to Berri’s call for a national dialogue to resolve the presidential crisis, Rifi said: “We expect that the dialogue will be held with whoever attends, and then open election sessions will be called for to elect a president. It is likely that the choice would go towards the Army Commander.”

Meanwhile, the head of foreign relations in the Lebanese Forces party (LF), former minister Richard Koyoumjian, who was present at the meeting that brought together the French envoy and LF chief Samir Geagea, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the French initiative has collapsed.

Parliamentary sources said that Le Drian is expected to visit Berri on Friday to inform him of the outcome of his talks.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)

A key Syrian rescue group and an activist told AFP on Wednesday a burial site outside Damascus was likely a mass grave for detainees held under former president Bashar al-Assad and fighters killed in the civil war.

In a vast walled area located near the Baghdad Bridge, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital, AFP journalists visiting the site saw a long row of graves more than one meter deep, mostly covered with cement slabs.

Several of the slabs had been moved and inside, white bags could be seen stacked over each other with names and numbers written on them. One of the bags contained a human skull and bones.

"We think this is a mass grave -- we found an open grave with seven bags filled with bones," said Abdel Rahman Mawas from the White Helmets rescue group, which visited the site several days earlier.

He told AFP by telephone that the bags, six of which bore names, were "taken to a secure location", adding that "necessary procedures were begun for DNA testing".

He said if additional graves had been exposed it meant other people may have been searching the site, warning people to "stay away from graves and let the relevant authorities handle them".

The site, near the Adra industrial area northeast of the capital, is less than 20 kilometers from the Saydnaya prison.

Diab Serriya, from the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya Prison, said the site was first identified in 2019 through "testimony of an intelligence personnel member who had deserted".

Satellite imagery suggests the site was in use from 2014, he said.

"Probably this grave contains detainees but also former regime or opposition fighters killed in battle," he told AFP by telephone.

The notorious Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomized the atrocities committed against Assad's opponents.

Serriya said "the bags of bones were probably brought from other graves", adding that "the road to discovering who is buried here will be long".

The doors of Syria's prisons were flung open after an opposition alliance ousted Assad this month, more than 13 years after his brutal repression of anti-government protests triggered a war that would kill more than 500,000 people.

The fate of tens of thousands of prisoners and missing people remains one of the most harrowing legacies of the conflict.

Mohammed Ali from the Adra municipal council denied residents were aware of the site, which is located near a Syrian army facility.

"It was forbidden to approach it or take photos as it was a military zone," he told AFP.