Murr: no early presidential elections

After his visit to Damascus, Interior Minister Michel Murr officially announced, yesterday, that early presidential elections will not take place. The declaration came after his meeting with president Elias Hrawi in Baabda, following a one-day trip to Damascus where he met with vice president Abdel-Halim Khaddam and several Syrian officials.

Murr also met, separately, with speaker Nabih Berri in Ein-El-Tineh and prime minister Rafik Hariri in Koreytem. Murr told journalists that the issue should be closed now because of the economic repercussions it may have. The election process, he said, starts on the 24th of September 1998. "We should all work to cool the political situation now," he added.