Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Muallem discussed on Sunday with visiting French Envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran the upcoming presidential elections in Lebanon.
Viewpoints of Syria and France "were identical on a compromise president" agreed upon by the Lebanese people, Muallem told reporters after their meeting.
He added that neither Syria nor France has a particular name in mind for the Lebanese presidential candidate, saying both sides want the elections to take place on time.
According to the official SANA news agency, Muallem and Cousseran discussed bilateral relation between Syria and France and the developments in Lebanon in light of the visit of a delegation of European ministers to Beirut.
During the meeting, Muallem affirmed Syria's keenness on holding the Lebanese presidential election on schedule and according to the constitution, stating that Syria supports all initiatives to achieve this goal.
For his part, Cousseran expressed France's readiness to work with Syria to find political solutions to regional issues to establish security and stability.
The two sides agreed that solution to the situation in Lebanon must come from Lebanon and that the Lebanese people must reach an agreement on a president that unites them and achieves security and stability in Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, Cousseran also held a meeting with Vice- President Farouk al-Shara in which Shara said that his country wants a stable and safe Lebanon, SANA said.
There should be agreement among Lebanese "without any foreign interference in order to elect a president that is for all Lebanese", Shara said.
Cousseran, who paid a visit to Syria in July on the Lebanon crisis, is currently on a regional tour which had taken him to Saudi Arabia and will also lead him to Egypt, Iran and Lebanon.
Last week, the ministers of France, Italy and Spain visited Lebanon in a fresh bid to resolve the political crisis there and reconcile their conflicting views on the elections of a new president.
Last week, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri postponed a parliamentary session until Nov. 12 to elect a new president to succeed the incumbent pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud in order to give rival factions time to agree on a compromise candidate.
Relations between Paris and Damascus have remained cool since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, for which Damascus has been blamed. Syria has repeatedly denied any involvement in the killing.
Source: Xinhua
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