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Lebanon’s prime minister and parliament speaker met French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Beirut to discuss how to prevent a security vacuum in the country’s south when the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, expires at the end of the year.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received Barrot and his delegation at the government palace, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri also met the French minister separately, his office said.
Salam said no gap should be left in southern Lebanon after UNIFIL’s departure.
He called for an international presence to remain in the area under a U.N. Security Council decision, carrying out monitoring, reporting and liaison duties.
The talks also covered continued support for the Lebanese army and recent developments in Lebanon and the wider region.
Barrot repeated France’s backing for Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability and said Paris would keep supporting the Lebanese state and its army.
He said France was ready to help shape international arrangements for the period after UNIFIL and to support efforts toward reform, recovery and reconstruction.
In his meeting with Barrot, Berri said Lebanese people and officials agree that international forces should stay in the country.
He said Lebanon has complied with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and continues to do so, while accusing Israel of violating all of its provisions, continuing attacks on Lebanon and occupying large areas of the south.
Berri called for national and international efforts to be combined to stop the attacks and to compel Israel to implement international resolutions, above all Resolution 1701.
He said Lebanese people expect France, Europe and other international and regional actors to take on a role so that no vacuum emerges if UNIFIL’s mandate ends before the resolution is fully implemented.
Israel entered Lebanon in 1978, after the start of Lebanon’s civil war, and occupied the south. The Security Council that year called on Israel to withdraw its forces.
On March 19, 1978, at Lebanon’s request, the council created UNIFIL to confirm the Israeli withdrawal, restore peace and security, and help the Lebanese government reestablish its authority in the south.
The council unanimously adopted Resolution 1701 on August 11, 2006, calling for an end to the intense war between Lebanon and Israel that began on July 12 of that year.
The resolution envisages an Israeli pullback behind the Blue Line and the disarmament of the area between that line and Lebanon’s Litani River, where only the Lebanese army and UNIFIL would hold weapons and military equipment.
UNIFIL has served in southern Lebanon for nearly half a century. Its mandate expires at the end of this year.
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