Hezbollah reportedly scraps Beirut meet with France’s Hollande

Hezbollah was said to cancel a meeting between French President Francois Hollande and representatives of the Lebanese Shiite faction in Beirut, Kuwaiti media reported Sunday.

Hollande was visiting Lebanon on Saturday and Sunday and sought to help resolve the almost two-year political impasse preventing the election of a president.

Lebanese MP Mohammad Ra’ad, a member of Hezbollah’s political wing, was supposed to meet with Hollande. Hezbollah requested a meeting with the French president, but canceled because of “conflicts” between the Shiite terrorist group and the international community, Kuwaiti newspaper al-Seyassah cited ministerial sources saying.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Friday issued a condemnation of Hezbollah “for conducting terrorist activities in Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen and for supporting terrorist movements and groups undermining the security and stability of OIC Member States.”

Hezbollah has been blacklisted by several Sunni states as well as the Arab League over the last several months amid ongoing tensions between Hezbollah-patron Iran and Gulf States.

Hezbollah is one of the main political powers in Lebanon and solving the country’s presidential impasse will be nearly impossible without getting the faction onboard.

The country has been without a president since 2014, as parliament has extended its own mandate twice.

Lebanon is home to more than a million Syrian refugees, the equivalent of a quarter the country’s population of 4.5 million.

The Syrian conflict has deepened the divide between Lebanon’s own political factions, paralyzing government institutions.

Hollande arrived in Beirut Saturday at the start of a regional tour that will take him to Egypt and Jordan.

On Sunday, the French leader will travel to an informal Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley to speak to families who will be resettled in France.

Hollande is also expected to underline France’s support for the Lebanese army, after Saudi Arabia suspended a grant to finance $3 billion worth of French weaponry for the country earlier this year over government ties to Hezbollah.

The official welcome ceremony for Hollande was held Saturday afternoon at the parliament building in Beirut, since Lebanon is without a head of state.

“This is a crucial moment, because you need to resolve this crisis and giveLebanon a president,” Hollande said after meeting parliament speaker Nabih Berri in downtown Beirut.

“I believe in you and I know that you will succeed,” he added.

AFP contributed to this report.