Sources told al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday that the US and France decided to end their ambassadors services in Lebanon. The sources added that the reasons behind ending the services of Ambassador David Hale and Patrice Paoli are yet to be known. According to the daily, the US envoy Hale is likely to be appointed as the US ambassador to Pakistan.
Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra told al-Seyassah newspaper on Saturday that the LF party and the Free Patriotic Movement did not tackle yet the presidential elections during their dialogue sessions.
Zahra asserted to the daily that both parties failed to bridge the gap between them concerning the presidential elections file.
MP Marwan Hamadeh told al-Seyassah newspaper on Saturday that no breakthrough was made so far in the presidential vacuum.
He noted that Change and Reform bloc head MP Michel Aoun is hindering the presidential elections.
“Aoun is hindering the elections because he already knows that he will not be elected as a president6,” he concluded by saying.
Ministerial sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday that complications loomed over the adoption of the pay scale after a meeting between MPs took place, who discussed the impossibility of endorsing the pay scale in the absence of the 2015 state budget.
The same sources added that a meeting was held at the residence of the Future bloc leader Fouad Siniora with Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and Lebanese Force MP Georges Adwan and Future MP Jamal al-Jarrah tackled the issue.
“We cannot finance the new pay scale without approving a state budget,” Siniora was quoted as saying.