French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday Cautioned against blocking Lebanon's "last chance" to elect a president next week, vowing that forces behind such a scheme would be isolated by France and other states.Sarkozy served the warning on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels, hours after Lebanese Communications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said international wrath would fall on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime if it maintained efforts to block the presidential election process.
Sarkozy was quoted as urging all sides in Lebanon to grab a "last chance" next week to finally elect a president after a series of postponements. "Monday is really the last chance, and France calls on all parties, inside and outside, to ensure that Lebanon can have a president," he said. "Those would take the risk of killing off that chance would cut themselves off from a number of countries, first among them France," Sarkozy warned.
Hours before Sarkozy issued his warning, Hamadeh -visiting France- predicted international pressure on Damascus at "Beirut Spring level" that led to the withdrawal of Syria's army from Lebanon in 2005, ending three generations of dominance. Such pressures, he said, would be exerted on Damascus if it continued to block Lebanon's presidential election that is scheduled for Monday.