Hollande kicks off Mideast tour in Lebanon

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

During his two-day visit to Lebanon, the French president is scheduled to meet with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

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.

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.

Parliament has extended its own mandate twice, and Lebanon has been left without a president since May 2014.

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 the Lebanon-based terror group 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.