The ambassadors of the Quintet countries (USA, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar) paid several visits on Monday and Tuesday as part of their tour to Lebanese officials to advance the presidential election file. They visited Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, and the de facto leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Walid Joumblatt. The Quintet also visited the former President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, after canceling a planned meeting with the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement and son-in-law of the former head of state, Gebran Bassil.
This interlocutor change was due to US sanctions on Gebran Bassil for corruption, which US Ambassador Lisa Johnson was unable to meet. Faced with this impasse, the ambassadors decided to meet the founder of the FPM, Michel Aoun, at his residence in Rabieh. However, Ambassador Johnson insisted that Bassil should not be present at the meeting.
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