What was Le Drian's message to Lebanese leaders?
French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian has met Tuesday with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He left the meetings without giving a statement, so what did he discuss with them?
Le Drian's visit aims to "continue discussions with Lebanese officials on subjects of common interest, particularly reforms and reconstruction," French ambassador Hervé Magro said.
But did Le Drian also discuss Hezbollah's weapons and the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701?
According to a report published Wednesday in pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper, the French diplomat focused on reforms and negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for the reconstruction of war-hit regions.
And although France is a member of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism chaired by the United State, Le Drian did not carry a plan to stop the Israeli aggressions and violations, according to the daily. He instead stressed that all parties abide by the ceasefire and vowed to help Lebanon.
France condemned Friday Israeli airstrikes that hit Beirut's southern suburbs and called on all the parties to abide by the ceasefire.
As Le Drian visited Lebanon, United Nations peacekeepers said rock-throwing individuals confronted them during a patrol in south Lebanon, calling repeated targeting of their troops "unacceptable".
Both Aoun and Berri condemned the attacks on UNIFIL patrols in their meetings with Le Drian. Le Drian for his part stressed the importance of coordination and cooperation between the UNIFIL and the Lebanese army.
UNIFIL's force consists of a total of 10,389 peacekeepers from 47 troop-contributing countries, including France. There are currently 749 French peacekeeper in Lebanon.
French soldiers were among the first peacekeepers to arrive in south Lebanon – just four days after the establishment of UNIFIL in March 1989. They were also among the first to deploy after UNIFIL troops number was increased substantially following the 2006 war.
