Bassil meets Geagea in highest-level impasse talks yet

BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement minister

Gebran Bassil met with Lebanese Forces

chief Samir Geagea late-Monday, amid

attempts to broker a meeting between

the leaders of each party seen as crucial to

ending the country's presidential impasse.

A statement from Geagea’s office Tuesday said he and Bassil, who is Lebanon's foreign minister

and the son-in-law of FPM chief Michel Aoun, discussed many issues, including granting

Lebanese expatriates dual citizenship.

The two-line statement did not make reference to the anticipated dialogue between Geagea

and Aoun, but Bassil is the highest ranking official affiliated with the FPM to visit the LF chief

over the months of preliminary talks.

Ibrahim Kanaan, the head of Aoun's parliamentary bloc, had visited Geagea twice in recent

weeks to lay the groundwork for dialogue.

The talks are seen as an effort to break the presidential impasse. The country has been without

a president since May. Both Aoun and Geagea are candidates, but neither has enough

parliamentary support to win.

Aoun said last week that minor progress had been made in the presidential crisis, despite the

generally gloomy prospects for ending the deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president

for 10 months.

Source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Mar-24/291965-bassil-meets-

geagea-in-highest-level-impasse-talks-yet.ashx