Guterres to visit Lebanon for three days
Lebanon has been informed that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will visit the country next Friday for a three-day visit, a media report said.
He is scheduled to meet with President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri, PM Nawaf Salam and Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal, al-Akhbar newspaper said.
He will also visit the headquarters of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and its positions in the south.
Guterres is also expected to meet with the heads of U.N. agencies operating in Lebanon to discuss their role in addressing the aftermath of the war.
Guterres is expected to hold a press conference on Saturday to announce the U.N.'s position on the developments.
According to informed sources, the Secretary-General may have on his agenda a proposal to revive Resolution 1701 by issuing a new Security Council resolution stipulating the presence of an international force in southern Lebanon.
This would be a countermeasure to a recent resolution that ends UNIFIL's mandate at the end of this year.
The U.N. is relying on contacts being made by countries contributing troops to UNIFIL with Lebanese and Israeli authorities to secure their agreement to maintain the force. A proposal prepared by the U.N. Special Coordinator, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, for a European force to remain under international auspices is unlikely to be considered.
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