Asiri Rejects Mashnouq Claims, Says No Saudi Interference in Presidential File

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri voiced astonishment on Friday at the latest statements made by Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq who said that the kingdom had several roles in Lebanon's internal files, the state-run National News Agency said.

“I am surprised at the stances made by the Interior Minster that involved the kingdom in several internal files,” said Asiri in a statement.

“The kingdom has never and will not interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs particularly the file of the presidency. This file is sovereign and the brethren Lebanese alone have the right to take a decision regarding it,” remarked the ambassador.

“The kingdom's role is limited to the encouragement of Lebanese officials in order to find a solution for the political crisis, end the presidential vacuum and help Lebanon cross to the stage of stability and prosperity whoever the new president may be ” he added.

Mashnouq fired a series of heated statements in an televised interview on Thursday where he said that the decision to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency was not ex-PM Saad Hariri's idea.

“Suleiman Franjieh's nomination did not come from Saad Hariri but rather from the British foreign ministry and later the Americans and Saudi Arabia,” Mashnouq disclosed.

Mashnouq also said that the visit of al-Mustaqbal movement chief Hariri to Damascus in 2009 and his meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, happened at the request of Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 due to the rival parties' failure to agree on a candidate and Hariri launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Franjieh for the country's top Christian post.

His initiative was however met with rejection and reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah, which is clinging to the nomination of Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun.

Change and Reform and Hizbullah, as well as March 14's Lebanese Forces, argue that Aoun is more eligible than Franjieh to become president given the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.