French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Monday said the election of a president for Lebanon, scheduled for Tuesday, faces "difficulties" and voiced hope that a new head of state would be voted into office by end of the year.
Kouchner told France Inter television "difficulties face the election of Gen. Michel Suleiman for the presidential office during the parliamentary session scheduled for tomorrow." However, the French official said "major obstacles facing the election have been surpassed."
Nevertheless, Kouchner noted that "major foreign intervention" persists in Lebanon. "Lebanon would have a president tomorrow or next week, and it is easier to say one day," he said.
