Report: ISG Support Hinges on Commitment to Dissociation Policy

The International Support Group for Lebanon is expected to affirm solidarity with Lebanon during its Friday meeting, but it will also "strictly monitor" the commitment of the Lebanese government to the dissociation policy which could become “the basic criterion for providing assistance to Lebanon,” An Nahar daily reported Thursday.

Informed sources told the daily "the ISG will stress interest in maintaining Lebanon's stability, but would also confirm that they would strictly monitor the commitment of the Lebanese government and parties to the so-called dissociation policy which will likely become the basic criterion for providing assistance to Lebanon.”

Government circles said the outcome of the ISG in Paris is “an important trial of the international umbrella that France is seeking to show through the positions of the five permanent members of the Security Council and other countries and organizations in support of stability in Lebanon," according to the daily.

The French role has strongly succeeded in the establishment of Lebanon's settlement that was adopted by the Cabinet through contacts between Paris and influential regional capitals, particularly Riyadh and Tehran.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri will attend talks in Paris Friday on the crisis triggered by his recent resignation announcement.

“The meetings aims to support the political process (in Lebanon) at a crucial moment. It will send a message both to the various parties in Lebanon and to countries in the region," the French foreign ministry said earlier.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China -- will be represented at the meeting, along with Germany, Italy and Egypt.

French officials said the goal was to shore up Lebanese institutions, by strengthening the army and supporting Hariri's economic program, with a view to encouraging foreign investment in the country.