Assistant Secretary Barbara Leaf to visit Lebanon, urges for election of president

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, will arrive in Beirut on a visit between March 23 and 25, ending a tour that included Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan. 

Diplomatic sources explained to Al Joumhouria newspaper that this tour aims to explore regional developments on multiple levels ahead of a series of meetings at the US State Department, where she should present her report.   

This article was originally published in, translated from the Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria.  

The sources pointed out that Leaf will begin her meetings with Lebanese officials on Thursday and meet Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, in addition to other meetings not included in the official program of the visit.   

The sources confirmed via the newspaper that Leaf would assure officials that the Lebanese must do what is required of them, especially the election of a president, and that her country and other allies will be by their side, but all these measures will have no effect unless the Lebanese parliament elects a president, which has failed to do so far, leaving Lebanon in a political vacuum.