Jumblat Says Hollande Stressed French Support during Elysee Meeting

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said French President Francois Hollande has informed him and his son that Paris will always back Lebanon.

“Never forget that France will always be by your side and the side of Lebanon,” Jumblat quoted Hollande as saying.

The PSP chief and his son Taymour visited the French president at the Elysee Palace on Monday after Hollande wanted to meet the young Jumblat.

The MP told al-Liwaa newspaper published on Tuesday that Hollande stressed the continued “personal friendship” with them.

He said that the Elysee meeting focused on the situation in Lebanon, the cabinet crisis and attempts to hold an extraordinary legislative session.

The talks also focused on Lebanon's economic situation amid the paralysis of state institutions, Jumblat told the daily.

He expressed regret that some Lebanese politicians turned the country into a “lost opportunity.”