Claire Wrathall
18.11.09

Strolling along the Corniche, which runs along the northernmost stretch of Beirut’s Mediterranean seaboard, on a warm Saturday evening, dodging power walkers, promenaders and soignée women with dogs in their handbags, it was striking how very good-looking so many Beirutis are.

Not perhaps the fishermen hoping to catch supper with a spindly rod balanced on the parapet wall; the narghile (or shisha-pipe) smokers huddled close to their cars from whose radios blasted loud Lebanese pop; or ka’ik vendors, peddling discs of hot bread with fist-sized holes, through which locals thread their arms in order to “wear” them home, like giant bangles.

But many of the women — some in hijabs, a few in sweats, others in Saturday-night best — had the demeanour of models. Even the mothers of children en route to the giant Ferris wheel at Lunapark looked more serene than their western counterparts might in similar circumstances.

This is most likely thanks to cosmetic surgery. Even in these credit-crunched times, Lebanon’s First National Bank is offering loans of up to $5,000 to “cover all your plastic surgery operations”, under the banner “Beauty is no longer a luxury”.

The reason has its roots less in vanity than in Lebanon’s war-torn past. Twenty years ago, when the civil war still raged, 90 per cent of surgeons’ work was reconstructive; today it’s almost all cosmetic.

Three years on from the Israeli bombing of southern Beirut, and despite what the UK’s Foreign Office calls a “fragile” peace and a visible military presence, Lebanon feels reborn.

Take the vibrant pedestrianised downtown district known as Solidère, a risen-from-the-rubble development of offices, shops, bars and cafés, stylistically a little too polished and post-modern, perhaps, but its faux rue-de-Rivoli arcades keep the sun off shoppers concerned for their complexions.

This was the part of town I was staying in, at the city’s smartest, newest hotel, Le Gray, a sophisticated, efficient 87-room boutique that opened on 1 November.

A more stylish alternative to the two InterContinentals on the Corniche — hitherto Beirut’s best hotels — it’s already made the city a more alluring destination for European weekenders.

It’s already so popular with locals that my friends and I in our group couldn’t get a table here for Sunday lunch, neither at its smart sixth-floor restaurant, Indigo — which offers a broadly international menu like its London namesake — nor its buzzy corner café, improbably named Gordon’s (despite a fine range of Lebanese salads) after its proprietor, Gordon Campbell Gray, the hotelier behind London’s One Aldwych and Dukes and Antigua’s Carlisle Bay.

Fortunately, there was space on the roof terrace, alongside its heated mauve-tiled, glass-walled swimming pool, from which on a clear day you can see not just the sea, but snow-capped Mount Lebanon.

Le Gray’s location on Place des Martyrs couldn’t be better, close to the café-encircled Place d’Etoile (they don’t call Beirut the Paris of the East for nothing) and Beirut Souks (more of a mall than a medina).

It’s also convenient for the city’s three main mosques — its proximity to the visible-for-miles 21st-century Mohammed al-Amin mosque ensures you never get lost — and the city’s three cathedrals.

Not that there aren’t myriad secular sights, too, ranging from Roman baths and colonnades to the Sursock Museum of modern Lebanese art (Le Gray, too, has more than 500 contemporary paintings and sculptures), by way of Byzantine mosaic pavements, crumbling Ottoman mansions and the National Museum.

Le Gray is metres from the Quartier des Arts, aka Saifi Village, a redevelopment of the area once bisected by the Green Line, the barricade that divided Muslim west Beirut from the Christian east side during the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

Here I found galleries and shops selling jewellery, richly embroidered local fashion (check out the coats in Assyla, on Riadh Sohl Street), carpets and homeware.

On Saturday mornings, Saifi also hosts a terrific farmers’ market, Souk el Tayeb, where locals buy organic veg, aromatic spices, flatbread brushed with herb-infused oils, the deep-fried lozenges of minced lamb and cracked wheat they call kibbeh and exquisite home-made marzipan.

That said, it would be a shame to spoil your appetite for lunch, especially if you’ve booked a table at, say, Casablanca, an old villa on the Corniche with modern interiors, sea views and a menu rich in slightly Asian takes on local fish.

Beirutis dine late, after which the beautiful people gather in the bars of Gemmayzeh, immediately east of Saifi and 10 minutes from Le Gray.

For the moment, the place to be is Myu on rue St-Antoine but next weekend sees the opening of Bar ThreeSixty on top of Le Gray, a glass-walled, blue-lit, lantern-shaped structure with jaw-dropping views. Beirut’s beau monde won’t be long in making it their own.

DETAILS

The flight
BMI flies daily from Heathrow, returns from £429.40, www.flybmi.com

The hotel
Le Gray has doubles from $346.50, www.legray.com

The restaurants
Casablanca Ain el-Mreisseh, Corniche (0011 961 1369 334) Myu Rue St-Antoine (0011 961 334 476)

Tours
Black Tomato offers a Beirut-based four-day package from £1,105pp that can include skiing, from January to March, as well as visits to Baalbek, Byblos and into the Bekaa Valley, www.blacktomato.co.uk, www.lebanon-tourism.gov.lb

Tair Falsieh gathering up the tails of blast media rumors
As if they had been waiting for some event, Israel initiated with the first news of the explosion Tair Falsieh to exploit it and put it in the context of breach of resolution 1701, and lodge a formal complaint against Lebanon in the UN Security Council, led in his news headlines Hebrew media, which aired a videotape allegedly Army occupation that «prove» that Hezbollah the means of escape from the combat scene. Quoted a delegate of Israel to the United Nations, Gbriila Shelef, complaint against Lebanon to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, and the President of the Security Council. Claims Tel Aviv through the complaint, that the event is a «serious breach of resolution 1701», and to talk about «a second explosion of a weapons depot belonging to the Hezbollah in the past three months, and it proves that the organization maintains a weapon is illegal south of the Litani River, and build military infrastructure in the region ».
The following Shelef, in its letter, that Hezbollah «use villages inhabited by civilians for the storage of ammunition … In this way the (Hezbollah) have used residents as human shields ». He also pointed the finger at the Lebanese army, saying that the «parties in the army (Lebanese) turn a blind eye deliberately building up Hezbollah, renewed infrastructure in southern Lebanon», stressing that «the Lebanese government responsible for each event is located on the territory».
A spokesman for the Israeli army had been circulated the tape, which says that an Israeli drone image of the sky of Lebanon. The video shows a persons occupation they claim «Hizbollah militants in possession of the means of combat on the back of a truck in an attempt to smuggle them before the arrival of UNIFIL and the Lebanese army to the scene», with reference to the pictures are not clear. Continues to monitor the video trucks that came out of the scene. The Israeli military claims that it «went to another store in the village of Deir Qanun river».
In turn, accused the Israeli President Shimon Peres, Hezbollah as «exposes Lebanon at risk», and saw that Israel «re what was to be returned to Lebanon», and therefore they «are not a threat to Lebanon». The Peres, during a speech at the Galilee, that «there is no reason not to be peace between us, was in Lebanon could become a Switzerland of the Middle East, but Hezbollah is destroying Lebanon as Hamas, the Palestinian Authority Palmyra». And Perez expressed his confidence in «we will be victorious in the field of security and other areas as well».
According to Israeli media that the army of occupation, called UNIFIL forces to investigate the explosion, on the background as evidence that Hezbollah continues to smuggle weapons into southern Lebanon and hiding in the houses, contrary to Resolution 1701. And saw an Israeli military spokesman said the blast «a continuation of the explosion in the Armory in Khirbet peace», on 14 July.
The former chairman of the research division of Military Intelligence, Brigadier General Jacob Amidror reserve and saw that the “explosion Tair Falsieh enabling Israel to achieve political gains achieved if the international forces of the incident, and this is what will not be, because it will violate the Hezbollah point of resolution 1701, and this is precisely what Israel will want working on the show ». But he pointed out that the talk about the «active filter or store a weapon of bombing would weaken the party, is the word of exaggerated».
I tried some of the Israeli media suggest that there is a role for the Israeli security services in an explosion Tair Falsieh over the question of the fact causes, although the result of a technical error, or the work of the long arm of Israel.
Some Israeli media have suggested that there is a role for the Israeli security services in the blast
The “Ha’aretz” that “Israel is following developments in the preparedness of southern Lebanon since the explosion to make sure that Hezbollah will not try to ignite the front with Israel in the wake of the explosion.” The “Maariv” newspaper quoted a security sources said that “there are aerial photographs that show for a second bombing in the village in the wake of the first explosion, and that Hezbollah seeks to strengthen the offensive and defensive Mnzawmath in Lebanese villages.”
The field, according to correspondent “News” in the district of pictures (Amal Khalil) that the people of the village, who slept the night of the explosion to rumors talked about the killing of Jesus and his son, 3 others, and the house was destroyed by an explosion of an ammunition depot in the garage, woken by the White Btbakte erected without damage, as Jesus himself Touring the whole health of the journalists in front of his home, the future well-wishers on his recovery. The son, still since before the incident in Beirut, where he lives and teaches at the university, and found no trace “of the three men” alleged: What Every one is infected, one of the elements of civil defense, the result was suffocating smoke, fire, and is treated.
Surprising that seized people from inflating the media of the accident also appeared on the Lebanese army soldiers and members of the Italian contingent, who flocked in the morning, to impose the necessary measures, as many have expressed surprise at the limited damage that focused on the burning garage, which is an area of 4 square meters.

More than 200 Harley Davidson bikes checked in at the InterContinental Mzaar Mountain Resort & Spa on their first night in Lebanon.

Designated by the event’s organizers as Lebanon’s most prestigious and trendy hotel, InterContinental Mzaar was proud to accommodate the 1st Lebanon Harley Owners Group H.O.G. Tour, an officially recognized event organized by the H.O.G. Lebanon Chapter for Harley-Davidson owners only.
“The resort’s alpine architecture, spacious guestrooms and cozy lobby were perfect for kicking-back and relaxing after a day-long ride” explained one of the bikers enjoying a sip of coffee in the hotel lobby along with his wife/bike partner.

After spending a refreshing night at 2000m above sea level, the riders enjoyed the exquisite Mzaar buffet breakfast before gathering in front of the main entrance, ready to take off to the Cedars, their next destination.
Dressed up in original Harley Davidson gears, the bikers coming from all over the world were riding along the scenic Lebanese roads from seaside’s to winding mountains in a fun-packed adventure until reaching the resort where they lived an authentic InterContinental Mzaar Experience.

© 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

BEIRUT: Venus Towers project, which was launched by Venus Real Estate Development Company and Plus Properties, evoked overwhelming investor response.

It attracted $100 million in off-plan sales booked in just 48 hours. Approximately 25 per cent of investors hail from the Gulf states.

The event was attended by a cross-section of investors interested in learning more about opportunities in Lebanon, especially in the Marina district of Solidere, Beirut.

Plus Properties is in charge of sales and marketing,

Plus Properties publicised the project through a vast media campaign, including special pre-launch offers.

Stimulated by attractive off-plan prices, significantly lower than those set for the construction period, the intense demand was described as “unprecedented” in Lebanon’s real estate sector.

Plus Properties chief executive George Chehwane highlighted that although buyers were mainly Lebanese, many were from Gulf states, confirming the widespread interest in securing property in Lebanon.

“We are delighted to see such enthusiastic demand from investors and future residents at Venus Towers, resulting in an exceptional volume of sales from the very first day,” he said.

“The volume of sales conducted for Venus Towers exceeded our expectations, demonstrating the high level of confidence in the future of Beirut and Lebanon. This response consolidates our belief in the strength and stability of the real estate sector in Lebanon,” Venus general manager Mohamad Qassem added.

“Thanks to the architectural design of the project, the unique location of Venus Towers, and the credibility of Venus Real Estate Development Company, the event led to a significantly positive outcome.

“Of course, the expertise and solid background of Plus Properties in the regional market played a vital role in the success of the event,” he emphasised.

Related links in skyscrapercity

According to a recent report by Mercer, a US consulting firm, Beirut is one of the least hospitable places on Earth when measured against the firm’s annual “quality of life” index. It ranks 175th out of 215 countries surveyed. I find this news a little hard to digest. Even within the Middle East, the people at Mercer say the Lebanese capital doesn’t perform well. They say its “quality of life” trails behind that of Kuwait City, Riyadh and Jeddah.
Why then is everyone dying to be in Beirut?
The New York Times has rated the Lebanese capital number one city to visit in 2009. This summer thousands of Saudis, Kuwaitis and other Gulf Arabs flooded its streets, as they do every year, eager to spend loads of cash in the city’s luxurious bars, restaurants and hotels.
Yes, tourism and quality of life are totally different indicators, and Beirut has many problems politically and econo mically. Corruption is widespread, there is a huge gap between rich and poor, traffic and state services can be terrible. But these problems exist in different forms in other cities. (Why does it take me 45 minutes to travel 5 kilometers in NYC?)
Plus the Mercer survey is not about reporting wealth distribution or political mobility for average citizens. It’s intended largely as a tool for multinational corporations in assessing hardship allowances for executives sent to live abroad.
Judging by the endless stream of parties thrown by diplomats and executives in Beirut, I wonder how “quality of life” is defined.
Beirut has its disadvantages and so do other cities on the list, especially in the Middle East. But when it comes to climate, geography, attractions, cultural diversity, entertainment, dining, social life and personal liberties, Beirut is at the forefront. (Thus the high tourism numbers, especially from Arab countries.)
Perhaps these factors did not carry much weight in the final assessment; but again, how does one define quality of life? Is infrastructure more important than entertainment and social relations?
I admit, doing business in Beirut can be challenging yet at the same time, the cost of living (such as groceries/rent) is much cheaper than Western capitals – while income taxes are relatively non-existent. Yes there is political violence (aimed mainly at politicians), but crime is insignificant compared to Europe and the US.
Beirut has plenty of other problems: the Internet is slow, cell phones are expensive – but these are offset by panoramic views of the sea on a daily basis, cheap housing, beaches, mountains, sking less than an hour away … beautiful retreats urban and rural, layers of fascinating history to explore, exciting nightlife, the list goes on and on …
It may not be conventional, but Beirut definitely has quality of life, heaps of it. To rank the city 100 places behind Dubai and 125 places behind New York and 50 places below Kuwait just doesn’t seem right.
Perhaps it would be interesting to visit other cities ranked on the bottom of Mercer’s list and see if “quality of life” there is really as bad as they say it is.

Habib Battah is a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker based in New York and Beirut. He blogs at www.beirutreport.blogspot.com

Beirut, Lebanon, 01 October 2009 – Thrifty Car Rental, Lebanon, today announced an impressive growth in revenue for the summer period, achieving more than a 30% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year.

In January 2009, the New York Times rated Beirut as the number one place to visit in 2009. Since then, tourists have been flooding Lebanon to experience the Mediterranean splendor of the country, often referred to as the ‘Paris’ or ‘Switzerland’ of the Gulf. Lebanon’s tourism ministry has reported that over a million tourists visited Lebanon during summer this year, with a noted 28% increase in tourist from outside the Arab countries for the months of July and August.

“Our customers primarily include Lebanese expatriates from Europe, North America, Canada and Australia,” explained Elie Khouri, General Director, Thrifty Car Rental, Lebanon. “As they work abroad, and are already very familiar with the country, they very often prefer to rent a car, leading to many of our cars being rented out for an entire month at a time – most popular are the small to mid-size cars. During Eid, we had cars booked out for seven to ten days.”

According to The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), tourism accounts for 9.3 percent of Lebanon’s GDP, and this is set to increase to 25.7 percent by 2019.

“This summer was a good time for travel, as airlines drop their rates, and travelers availed themselves of the many promotions on offer for accommodation and transport,” said Sam Eltibi, Executive Director, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, MENA and Asia Pacific. “Particularly in Lebanon, the ease of civil conflict and political tension has created stability in the country this summer. This has lead to previously unseen levels of tourists flooding the country, which in return has created a surge in business activity.”

BEIRUT: The annual survey on the quality of living in 215 cities around the world ranked Beirut as the 175th most desirable city for overall living standards and 16th among 21 cities surveyed in the Middle East and North Africa region in 2009, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.
Beirut ranked in 171st place worldwide and 15th in the region in the 2008 survey. Also Beirut ranked in 30th place among 33 Upper Middle Income Countries (UMIC) included in the survey.
The study evaluated the cities on the basis of 39 key quality-of-living determinants grouped in 10 categories that include political, economic and socio-cultural factors, in addition to the environment, housing, recreation, health care, education, transportation, and other public services. New York City served as the benchmark for other cities with a score of 100.
Beirut received a score of 51.9 points in 2009, down 2.6 percent from 53.3 points in 2008. Its score came below the global average of 76.4 points as well as below the MENA and Arab averages of 61.6 points and 61.2 points, respectively.
Also Beirut’s year-on-year decline in score does not compare favorably with the annual increase of 0.6 percent in the average score of the MENA region and the 0.9 percent rise in the Arab world.
On a global basis, Beirut ranked ahead of Pakistan’s capital Lahore, Honduras’ capital San Pedro Sula and Almaty in Kazakhstan, and came immediately behind Islamabad in Pakistan, Tirana in Albania and Nairobi in Kenya.
It also ranked ahead of Almaty in Kazakhstan and Minsk in Belarus, and behind Tripoli in Libya and Russia’s St. Petersburg among UMICs. Regionally, Beirut ranked ahead of Tehran, Algiers, Sanaa, Khartoum and Baghdad.
Beirut’s rank regressed four spots, posting the steepest decline in the region’s rankings. The scores of 11 cities in the MENA region improved, seven declined and three remained unchanged, while the rankings of 12 cities improved, five declined and three stayed the same.
Vienna is the world’s best city for overall quality of living with a score of 108.6 points, while Baghdad was considered to be the world’s least appealing city. The survey is conducted annually to help multinational companies assess international hardship allowance for their expatriate workers.
Mercer said businesses face constant challenges in identifying new markets, expanding operations and acquiring and strategically deploying resources. Therefore, establishing suitable allowances linked to local costs and quality of living is essential to encourage expatriate employees with transferable skills to accept international assignments.
The data for the survey is regularly updated to take account of changing circumstances. – The Daily Star

Brazilian dancers have gotten hold of the Lebanese streets harmonizing DownTown with Rio de Janeiro Carnival rhythm. Starting September 23rd and till October 2nd, up to 30 Latin American artists, dancers and musicians will bring to Lebanon the sense of festivities making party lovers dance on Brazilian beats all day and night.

Entertainment is programmed for the first 2 days in DownTown, Beirut whereas the Brazilian aura will be enlivened by street parades in Zahle on September 26th, in Batroun on September 29th and finally in Tyre on October 1st. There are no spectators as everybody is expected to participate thanks to the public workshops taking place throughout the carnival.

The organizers of the event did not wish for the Lebanese people to participate merely as bystanders; rather they gave the opportunity for those who have art in their veins the possibility to participate. Up to 60 dancers and 40 musicians from Lebanon joined in the fun.

Lose yourself in some Samba shaking, rhythm dancing, and an all in all Brazilian Carnival.

The perennial breakdown of the Lebanese political order has become more than a tedious joke. On a human level the pain and the stress is driving people to despair. Internationally, the sequence of Lebanese crises threaten the region and beyond with an escalation toward an Armageddon pitting one alliance of states against another. There has to be change and this change can only come from within Lebanon itself.

The Cedar Revolution in 2005 promised a new Lebanon with a future to fulfill the pent up expectations of so many lost years. Four years later and hopes are rapidly evaporating after a turbulent period in which the country endured phases of having no president, no parliament and currently no government. Scattered doses of violence spilt blood in the streets of Beirut and the mountains of the Chouf. In the current situation, even if a government is formed, it will be yet another stop-gap measure to delay yet another crisis. No country can continue surviving this way, nor does it deserve to.
Martyrs of the Cedar Revolution sacrificed their lives for a Lebanon that would enjoy sovereignty, freedom and independence. Currently, of the three, only freedom remains to exist but it is holding on barely by its fingertips. We are all in the dark in the pursuit of justice through the international tribunal for Lebanon. The Chief Prosecutor Judge Daniel Bellemare tells us that such ignorance is our bliss and we are forced to believe him. Apparently betrayed by France and later by the United States, the March 14 movement has lost its way. The pressure has led to fragmentation, with one of its original pillars, Walid Jumblatt, taking his Druze community out of the coalition altogether under the pretext of group survival.

And so, the Lebanese wait once more for a solution to be imported based on a settlement among bigger and stronger nations. Shamelessly, some political leaders state this as if it is a natural state of affairs. Self-inflicted impotence is not nature’s way by any stretch of the imagination, unless you are Lebanese it seems.

In all this doom and gloom, dear reader, there is a way out for Lebanon. This begins with honesty but without bitterness or reprisals. This lays the groundwork for an intellectual revolution for political changes to rescue Lebanon from its demise. I propose three key tenets driving the Cedar Revolution and Lebanese thinking toward withstanding all the tests and trials of nations and international politics.
First, there must be a reassessment of cultural identity. The American, French and Russian Revolutions all were based on an idea. The first two survived successfully, despite counter-revolutions and turbulence, because they were based on notions of justice and liberty linked to national identity. While respecting the specificities of Lebanon’s religious communities, the leaders of the Cedar Revolution should ensure that ideals of liberty and justice should never be compromised and they should not be afraid or ashamed to state it out loud. If they cannot be achieved today, it can light a beacon of hope for tomorrow’s generation.

The cultural identity of Lebanon needs also to sincerely recognize the richness of diversity in the nation’s history. This means giving due weight to its Canaanite origins and its multi-lingual road toward the modern usage of Arabic. There was a nation with a rich civilization here before Islam and Christianity, both of which are great contributors to the modern Lebanon. Nonetheless, for millennia the traits of this patch of land have not changed. Curiosity about the outside world, interaction through trade and exploration, diversity, freedom, community and an amazing self-confidence that does not fear importing new technologies, arts and ideas from the East and West. This is much unlike other great civilizations which based their greatness on military conquest. The heavy emphasis on Arab identity represents only a part of a much richer mosaic and unfairly alienates some Lebanese constituents, most obviously the Armenians but also others.
Second, there is a need for a unique political representation system. At the heart of the conflict in Lebanese politics is the rivalry between the state and the communities and the struggle for supremacy among them. The state can mean an undesirable authoritarian rigid system in the way President Emile Lahoud attempted to assert himself over communitarian leaders. But it can also represent the opposite extreme, as the entity that protects the freedoms and rights of the individual from the authoritarianism of the community or the clan. However, eradicating the communities is not a solution because it would undermine the unique features of Lebanon that justify its existence.

The solution is a distinct communitarian democracy system in which regardless of demographics, all communities, mainly based on sects, vote directly for a strong President. The key here is that each of the major communities receives a maximum share of the total vote. Maintaining the 50-50 Muslim Christian division, on the Christian side for example the Maronites count for 30 percent of the total, Orthodox about 15 percent and other Christians would be allocated the remainder. On the Muslim side Sunnis and Shiites would get 20 percent each and other Muslims would divide up the rest with the Druze
getting about 7 percent. A successful president would require the largest sum of all the major allotted voting shares and cross 50 percent. This system would protect against a nationally unpopular candidate even if s/he gets 100 percent of a community’s vote because in the case of Sunni or Shiite voters it would only account for 20 percent of the total. This way, Lebanon can have a nationally and directly elected popular Maronite president without upsetting the sectarian framework of the country. As a balance, a vice presidency for the Druze can be created as a message that the interests of the smallest sects are represented in the state apparatus.

The new system would promote autonomous regional administration in local affairs, including schools, hospitals and other social services. Central government would be responsible for law and order, administering a broad fiscal policy and foreign affairs. The central government would also protect the right of those secularists who do not feel comfortable in their communitarian setting. This includes the right for a secular education and life-style. Communities must respect the state as the state respects the communities.
Third, a new foreign policy thinking is required. Lebanon needs a steel-cold pragmatism in its foreign policy that rejects emotionalism. Relations with states must be based on national interests, regardless of how near or far it is or if it is Arab or Asiatic. This means rejecting the idea of special relationships because of linguistic or religious ties. Syria is a very important nation for Lebanon but only because it is a geographic neighbor and relations should not be at expense of its own interests. Likewise, the United States and the West in general are not natural enemies of Lebanon. Lebanon should in fact look to joining the European Union if it serves stabilization of its economy and its political system. Lebanon has a moral responsibility to prioritize relations with countries that share its values. Likewise, Lebanon has no interest in peace with Israel until the Palestinian issue is resolved. One of the chief reasons for this is that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon should not be naturalized and this demands the promotion of a just settlement to the Palestinian cause.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will send to Beirut a top envoy on a mission most probably linked to the cabinet crisis in Lebanon, a diplomatic source told al-Liwaa daily.
The envoy would visit Lebanon in a period not later than end of this month, the source added.

He refused to name the top official and discuss the nature of his mission. However, involved sources told al-Liwaa that the French official will discuss the difficulties facing cabinet formation.