Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi expressed hope on Tuesday that a French presidential envoy would be able to resolve the Baabda Palace impasse.
Before traveling to Rome, al-Rahi hoped that Jean-François Girault, who is the director of the department of the Middle East and North Africa at the French Foreign Ministry, would “succeed in his mission.”
Girault arrived in Beirut on Monday for talks with the country's rival leaders, in his second visit to Lebanon in more than two months.
The official has been tasked by French President Francois Hollande to try to reach a breakthrough over the presidential elections in Lebanon.
The country has been left without a head of state since President Michel Suleiman's term ended in May last year.