With the return of the remarkable field escalation in the confrontations on the southern border of Lebanon, coupled with a similar escalation in the Israeli threats to Hezbollah and Lebanon, attention turned yesterday to the first meeting of its kind for the ambassadors of the five member states of the five-member group concerned with the presidential crisis in Lebanon, as it will initially form the cornerstone of an updated agenda for action. The group, which will meet at the level of its main representatives in Paris or Doha at the beginning of next February, to agree on a renewed path toward Lebanon.

The meeting of the ambassadors of the five countries was held at 4:15 p.m. at the residence of Saudi Ambassador Walid al-Bukhari in Yarzeh. Bukhari was joined by the ambassadors of the United States of America Lisa Johnson, France Hervé Magro, Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Thani of Qatar, and Alaa Moussa of Egypt. While no statement was issued about the meeting amidst the secrecy of the research that included it, it is understood that the meeting was coordination such that the ambassadors agreed on the steps that they would take together in the next stage, which will begin with a tour of official officials, political leaders, and heads of parliamentary blocs to put them in the basic lines of the movement of the five-member group, provided that it is determined. The nature of the movement in the next stage after the initial scheduled meeting of the group in Paris or Doha, amid confirmation of the separation between the presidential crisis and the course of the current events in southern Lebanon and Gaza.
Information reported that among the most prominent points mentioned in the discussions of the five ambassadors was the assertion that the role of the quintet does not in any way replace the will of the Lebanese, which is reflected in the House of Representatives. Also, it was confirmation of the convergence in the position between the quintet and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in terms of separating the presidential file from developments in Gaza and the region.

The meeting of the ambassadors of the countries of the “Five-Year Committee on Lebanon”, which was held at the residence of the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, paves the way for the start of efforts that the five ambassadors will make for the arrival of the French presidential envoy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, to Lebanon to “announce the criteria that determine the identity and features of the prospective president.”

The meeting will serve as a relaunch of the efforts undertaken by the committee, in an attempt to bring viewpoints closer between the Lebanese political forces, in order to reach a happy conclusion that ends the extended vacuum in the presidency, and its direct and indirect effects on the internal situation.

Asharq Al-Awsat information spoke of “efforts being made towards a common and unified vision for member states according to a specific timetable.” The meeting, and the information that leaked from their discussions, carry great importance in redrawing the presidential movement, based on the assertion that the presidential elections are an internal Lebanese decision par excellence, and therefore there must be a parallel Lebanese movement that matches the movement of the countries friendly to Lebanon that are part of the committee, which will not be Iran. The sixth, according to the assurances of all participants in the meeting.

The attendees affirmed the “unity of the vision and efforts of the Five-Year Committee,” while a source participating in the meeting told Asharq Al-Awsat that the attendees stressed that the “Five-Year Committee” and its efforts “will not be a substitute for the will of the Lebanese political forces and Lebanon’s sovereignty.” The members of the committee stressed the necessity of “making the current movement a success to make the presidential election a priority in political meetings in Lebanon and the region.”

Egyptian Ambassador Alaa Moussa told Al-Gomhouria: “The developments in the presidential vacancy were discussed, and each ambassador presented the outcome of the contacts he had made. We wanted to send a message that the five-member group has a single and unified position on approaching the Lebanese file, and we discussed the next steps and developed a road map for dealing with it.” With the Lebanese file in the future, we will have a series of actions and meetings in preparation for the five-party meeting that will discuss the report that we will submit to it.”

He added: “We did not discuss the names, and the eligibility is Lebanese, and we take the proposal with regard to the names of the Lebanese. We do not dictate anything to them, and we provide facilitations to resolve the crisis.”

Five-year initiative
Information was revealed to Al-Jumhuriya that the five ambassadors are in the process of preparing to move the file to elect the President of the Republic and to launch an initiative by the Five-Year Central Committee, considering that electing the President is a priority for it, but they did not discuss the names of candidates, but rather the criteria required to be met by the incoming president. The situation in the region and the southern front and its impact on the presidential file were also discussed, and the meeting ended without any position or statement being issued.
Diplomatic sources following up with Al-Jumhuriya described the meeting as “preliminary in preparation for scheduling the ambassadors’ appointments to tour Lebanese officials and political forces, followed by a meeting of the five-member committee at the level of delegates in one of the member states, from which decisions or recommendations will be carried by the French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian to Beirut.” “And perhaps there will be another delegate from the committee members with him.” She added: “The holding of the ambassadors’ meeting is in itself an important matter that indicates an increasing dynamism among the “quintet” to push the Lebanese presidential file steps forward and to urge Lebanese officials to assume their responsibilities in electing the president.”

Al-Akhbar wrote: The ambassadors agreed among themselves to meet with Al-Bukhari, especially after the “embarrassment” they caused to their colleague by not attending the meetings he coordinated, especially with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, after which it became clear that there was a “competition” to lead the movement. And the ambassadors are dissatisfied with the way Bukhari works, especially the American ambassador, who “wants to erase all traces of the previous ambassador” in the way of dealing with politicians and diplomats in Lebanon, and she definitely does not want to appear attached to Bukhari.
According to sources familiar with the activity of the American Embassy, ​​Johnson, who has previous relations with many Lebanese figures, does not want to work according to the accepted agenda, and she will benefit from the referral of the Lebanese employee in public relations, Fadi Al-Hafez, to retirement, soon, to rearrange the status of the team. Its own business, and it is expected to bring in new employees from abroad to replace current employees who are expected to leave Beirut.
The sources revealed that “the lack of coordination and confusion in the work of the committee” contributed to freezing the mission of the Qatari envoy, Abu Fahd Jassim bin Fahd Al Thani, knowing that he has been in Beirut since last Sunday, but has not met any of the political forces yet.
The sources were surprised by what was said about preparing the internal ground for a presidential settlement, and working to determine the specifications of the president and the tasks required of him, stressing that “nothing of this kind is happening.” The sources indicated that “the maximum that the ambassadors can do is to draw up a catalog of presidential specifications and research the date of the meeting scheduled to be held, noting that neither the place nor the time has been specified to say that there is a common vision among the countries of the Five-Year Committee.”
The sources revealed that “the Americans are not concerned today with the presidential file, and that the security of Israel and the political arrangement on the southern front is all that concerns them,” noting that “what the American ambassador in Beirut did, intentionally, was aimed at confirming that the United States is not ready to go into conflict.” in the file, and that it will not allow any party in the quintet to take the lead without coordination with it,” especially since “each party focuses on a specific point related to its interest.”

It was stated in “Call of the Nation”: Hopes were pinned on the Five-Year Committee and still are to push towards removing the presidential entitlement from the bottleneck of obstruction, but recent developments have shown that the relations between its components necessitated review after the confusion raised by the news of the move towards internal leadership. This is practically the conclusion of the meeting held yesterday afternoon by the ambassadors of the Committee countries at the residence of Saudi Ambassador Walid al-Bukhari in Yarzeh. According to a diplomatic source that “Call of the Nation” spoke to, the meeting was devoted to “confirming the ambassadors’ confirmation that there is no disagreement between its components.” The organizers were keen to photograph the ambassadors drinking coffee in the host’s salon, which adopts the “Arab sitting.”
The source stated that “there are no variables” in the internal data indicating the possibility of holding presidential elections in the foreseeable future. At the same time, the ambassadors stressed “the necessity of accelerating the election of a president while rejecting in advance the naming of names.” Based on these facts, the source denied that there was a timing for the return of French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian to Lebanon again.
During the meeting with the ambassadors, their Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Thani, was asked about rumors that Doha has a specific candidate, and he replied: “We do not have a candidate.” Everything else is a construct of the Lebanese media.”

Diplomatic sources described to “Al-Liwaa” the meeting of ambassadors of the five-party countries as a serious attempt to develop a road map, to implement the committee’s commitments to help Lebanon get out of the impasse of the presidential vacuum and elect a president of the republic, despite the new developments in the region after the seventh of last October and the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. The Committee countries are concerned with the repercussions of this war and its impact on the Arab region and the world.
The sources said that there is an understanding between the countries of the Five-Year Committee on the necessity of removing the process of electing the president from the midst of the war on Gaza, and removing all attempts to link them, to keep Lebanon floundering in its multiple crises. They indicated that among the priorities of action that were agreed upon was intensifying communications with all political parties and representatives. And putting them in the meeting atmosphere, and informing them of the desire of the countries of the Five-Year Committee, to help them overcome their differences, and bring their points of view closer together to elect a President of the Republic, who enjoys the required consensus and does not constitute a provocation to any party, as soon as possible, without delving into the names of candidates or those from outside them, Considering that the task of electing a president of the republic falls on the responsibility of the Lebanese themselves, and the task of the five-member committee is to assist and overcome obstacles.
The sources linked the speed of movement of the ambassadors of the Five-Year Committee countries, in this particular circumstance, to avoid the dangers of Israel launching a military operation against Hezbollah, to change the military and security reality in the south, after a series of Israeli threats directed against Lebanon, and information was circulated that one of the committee’s Arab ambassadors carried out a threat from The Israeli side of senior Lebanese officials recently stated that it is necessary to stop the ongoing clashes on the southern Lebanese border by Hezbollah, before the end of this month, otherwise Israel will implement its threats, by launching a large-scale military operation, to restore the situation to what it was before the seventh of last October. .
According to information, the approach of the Five-Year Committee is related to unifying the supportive position, not seeking to be an alternative to the Lebanese position, which must be unified or converged with the opportunity available abroad to facilitate the Council’s task of electing a president at a time not too late, in order to meet the ongoing negotiations. It has not yet matured in the region, after the cessation of the Gaza Strip.
The ambassadors of the Five-Year Committee will submit a report on its vision for the solution, to the meeting likely to be held in mid-February in Riyadh for the representatives of the five countries in the committee, before the French mediator Jean-Yves Le Drian returns to Beirut, to announce the approach in a press conference, setting practical measures in the arena of the Presidency of the House of Representatives.
A well-informed diplomat said that what is happening is like a “five-party agreement” to end the vacancy in Baabda Palace, put Lebanon on the path to permanent stability, and return to natural order.
According to the information, the five-member committee’s insistence on breaking the presidential stalemate comes against the backdrop of an understanding with Speaker Berri, to work presidentially regardless of what is happening on the Gaza and southern fronts.
According to Ambassador Moussa, the aim of the meeting is to continue consultation and unity of position within the Five-Year Committee and to consider an assessment of what happened and future steps to deal with the presidential file in Lebanon.
It is noteworthy that President Berri’s political aide announced his readiness “to talk about a comprehensive understanding to facilitate the election process.”
Informed political sources told Al-Liwaa that the situation is awaited by the situation that follows the meeting of the ambassadors of the Five-Year Committee and the conditions available for action. They indicated that the new movement is continuing, but the facts indicate that there is a wait for the Gaza scene to become clear and the possibility of a truce followed by calm in the south, which will allow for diving. In the Lebanese file.
The sources reported that nothing has been decided in the new movement, but that the internal desire exists to complete these elections, and the problem lies in the mechanism that will be agreed upon, especially since the issue of changing the forces’ convictions regarding their candidates has not yet matured.

Al-Diyar wrote: According to informed sources, this movement does not mean that elections will take place in the near future, but rather it lays the foundation for moving the stagnant waters in the presidential swamp in the coming period. However, among the most prominent points that came up in yesterday’s discussions is the emphasis on the role of the “quintet.” It does not, in any way, replace the will of the Lebanese, which is reflected in the House of Representatives. Also, it was confirmation of the convergence in the position between the “quintet” and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in terms of separating the presidential file from developments in Gaza and the region.

In this context, the Egyptian ambassador confirmed that the meeting was consultative, during which a “road map” was drawn up for the next move by the ambassadors regarding presidential affairs, including communication with political forces. He indicated that the five-party meeting will be held soon, and the ambassadors sensed positive tendencies among the Lebanese leaders to emerge from the crisis, without clarifying what the encouraging indicators are, refusing to say that the situation is different today than before. But he acknowledged that the war on Gaza occupies the regional scene. He said that an evaluation had been made of the communications conducted by each ambassador individually, and he would build accordingly.

“Al-Binaa” wrote: Media sources reported that “the quintet will not become a quintet and Iran will not be included in the committee,” revealing that “there is no discrepancy in views between the ambassadors and the evidence is today’s (yesterday) meeting in the residence of Ambassador Bukhari, which created a unified political discourse between the ambassadors and a common language.” between them”.
The information pointed to “an emphasis on the necessity of separating the Gaza and Field track from the presidential file and an insistence on the necessity of electing a president who will be present in the post-war scene and in the process of implementing international resolutions, including the 1701,” adding, “French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian is the one who will announce the specifications of the president.” Al-Jumhuriya in a detailed statement upon his return to Beirut.

Al-Bina stated that the contacts and discussions of European diplomats with Lebanese officials revolved around Hezbollah taking the initiative to stop military operations or reduce them to a minimum against Israel, coinciding with the start of the third phase of the Israeli war in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from most of the areas they entered in Gaza. In the south, north, and center to the crust, while keeping some points. This is expected to happen early next month, and this will allow the military operations in the south to stop and negotiations to begin on the border issue under American auspices. According to information, the solution being discussed among the Europeans, especially the Spanish envoy, is for the period between the end of the ground operation in Gaza and reaching a temporary or complete ceasefire and the start of negotiations on the exchange of prisoners.