Despite the widespread confusion caused by the announcement of the postponement or cancellation of the planned visit by the ambassadors of the Quintet group, which includes the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar, to the second presidential palace in Ain al-Tineh today to meet with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, there are indications from diplomatic sources closely linked to this movement that can be relied upon as a high level of seriousness and credibility regarding three points:
First, there is a confirmed direction to prepare for a meeting of the Quintet representatives in Paris, likely (even if the date and place have not been definitively decided yet), starting with the ambassadors' movement from Beirut first.
Secondly, there is a nearly fixed direction for the group to send a clear message agreeing on the necessity of completely separating the ongoing military and war-related situation on Lebanon's southern borders with Israel from the presidential crisis file.
Thirdly, there is a trend towards formulating a unanimous Quintet position to endorse what is called the "third option" in electing the forthcoming President of the Republic, as reported in "An-Nahar".
While it was initially planned for these countries to commence their movement through a tour of their ambassadors in Beirut today starting from Ain al-Tineh with President Berri and later with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and then with major political forces, the appointment with Berri was canceled, and no date was announced for Mikati's visit, which was also canceled accordingly, following the cancellation of the movement.
Informed diplomatic sources told "An-Nahar" that some ambassadors of the Quintet decided to hold a coordinating meeting among the five ambassadors first before starting the visits, asserting that there are no political motives behind the postponement, which occurred for logistical reasons. It is known that the ambassadors' movement in Beirut is part of the preparation for the expected meeting of the committee in Paris or Qatar in early February, thus necessitating a preparatory meeting for the ambassadors before the start of the tour.
The leak of the news about the cancellation of the Quintet meeting with Berri, along with the notable meeting between Saudi Ambassador Walid Bukhari and his Iranian counterpart Mojtaba Amani at Bukhari's residence in Yerza, sparked widespread interpretations linking the two developments. It was announced that the meeting of the two ambassadors discussed "the most prominent political developments in both the Lebanese and regional arenas and exchanged views on various issues of mutual interest," according to a statement.
However, informed political sources denied any connection between the cancellation of the Ain al-Tineh meeting and the meeting between Bukhari and the Iranian ambassador, indicating that there is no relationship between the two matters and that everything that happened was a "mix-up" in scheduling, revealing that the next appointment for Berri with the ambassadors will not be far off, and the postponement does not mean a disruption in the Quintet's work.
Accordingly, it was decided to postpone the appointment, with a new date to be determined later agreed upon by the ambassadors. It was learned that the Saudi ambassador will attend alone today to Ain al-Tineh to meet with Berri based on a pre-scheduled appointment.
