Reuters - Former
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri intends to endorse Michel Aoun for the
country's vacant presidency, political sources said, though a leading
member of
Hariri's party was quoted as saying the decision was not yet final.
The dramatic
proposal would result in Aoun, a political ally of the Iranian-backed Shi'ite
group Hezbollah, becoming head of state and the Saudi-backed Hariri becoming
prime minister for the second time, the senior political sources said.
Political
conflict has left the Lebanese presidency empty for 2 1/2 years. The post is
reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing
arrangements.
It was not
immediately clear if Aoun's candidacy would enjoy enough support among other
Lebanese politicians to secure the necessary two-thirds quorum for the vote in
the 128-seat parliament.
The next
scheduled parliamentary session to elect a president is set for Oct. 31. Aoun's
political opponents include the powerful politician Nabih Berri, who is
parliament speaker and head of the Shi'ite Amal Movement.
Two senior
politicians told Reuters that Hariri had expressed his intention to nominate
Aoun, who is in his 80s, for the presidency as part of the power-sharing deal.
A third
source, a member of Hariri's Future Movement, confirmed Hariri had expressed
this intention, but members of his own parliamentary bloc opposed it.
Fouad Siniora,
a former prime minister and head of the Future Movement's parliamentary bloc,
told the newspaper Daily Star that Hariri had told his MPs on Tuesday that he
had decided to support Aoun's candidacy for the presidency, but added that
there was "no final decision yet on this matter".
Reuters
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