Le Drian meets Berri, Haykal and Jumblat
French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian met Tuesday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Army chief Rodolphe Haykal and former PSP leader Walid Jumblat, as Lebanon moves towards direct negotiations with Israel.
French Ambassador to Lebanon Hervé Magro, who attended the talks, said the meeting with Berri was "very good".
France is a member of a U.S.-chaired committee monitoring a year-long ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. The five-member committee, which also includes Lebanon, Israel, the U.S. and the U.N. peacekeeping force, is set to meet with Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives on December 19.
Le Drian arrived Monday in Beirut and met with President Joseph Aoun and Foreign Minister Joseph Rajji.
During the meeting with Aoun, Le Drian welcomed the appointment of ex-Ambassador Simon Karam to lead the Lebanese delegation to the ceasefire monitoring committee.
Aoun and Le Drian discussed the situation in South Lebanon, the reforms file, and the preparations for a conference to support the Lebanese Army, the Lebanese Presidency said.
The president rejected "accusations claiming that the Lebanese army is not fully carrying out its role south of the Litani River", about 30 kilometers north of Israel.
Aoun told Le Drian that Lebanon "supports any audit conducted by the ceasefire monitoring committee regarding the procedures implemented south of the Litani".
Under heavy U.S. pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon's government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army is set to dismantle the group's military infrastructure near the border by year's end before tackling the rest of the country. Israel claims that the army is not doing the job and has kept up strikes on Lebanon.
Le Drian will meet later on Tuesday with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and other Lebanese politicians.
In his last visit to Beirut, the French diplomat discussed with Lebanese leaders preparations for a Lebanon reconstruction conference and another for assisting the Lebanese Army, days after the Lebanese government took a decision to disarm Hezbollah and all armed groups by the end of the year.
