French president in Lebanon to meet the country's new leaders and discuss ceasefire with Israel
BEIRUT (AP) — France’s president began a visit to Lebanon Friday, where he will meet the crisis-hit country’s newly elected leaders, as the nation attempts to recover from the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.
Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Lebanon, his first in more than four years, follows a 60-day ceasefire deal that aims to end the war. France helped broker the deal and a French officer is a member of the committee that is supervising the truce, which went into effect on Nov. 27.
Shortly after, Lebanon's parliament overcame a stalemate that had left the presidency vacant for over two years. That cleared the way for the naming of nomination of a permanent prime minister, prominent jurist and diplomat Nawaf Salam.
Lebanon's government hopes the political breakthrough will boost international confidence and clear the way for the release of funds needed for reconstruction caused by the Israel-Hezbollah war, which killed more than 4,000 and wounded over 16,000 in Lebanon. An international conference for Lebanon in Paris in October raised $1 billion in pledges for humanitarian aid and military support.
Macron was received at Beirut’s international airport by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and was expected to head to the south of the country, where French troops are deployed part of a U.N. peacekeeping force along the border with Israel.
“This is a message of gratitude,” Macron told journalists at the airport.
The French leader has been a harsh critic of Lebanon’s political class, whom many blame for the decades of corruption and mismanagement that led in October 2019 to the country’s worst economic and financial crisis.
For years, Macron has pressed Lebanese officials to implement reforms to help the former French protectorate out of an economic crisis that the World Bank described as among the worst the world has witnessed in more than a century. Few steps have been taken by Lebanon's rulers since then.
Macron is scheduled to meet Salam and President Joseph Aoun. Aoun and the prime minister-designate have promised to work on getting Lebanon out of its economic crisis and to impose state authority over parts of the country long controlled by Hezbollah.
“President Macron promised to keep support for the new government,” Mikati said after meeting the French leader at the airport. He added that Macron will meet early Friday with the U.S. and French officers on the ceasefire monitoring committee and will later meet Lebanese officials.
Asked if France can guarantee that Israel will withdraw its troops from Lebanon, by the end of the 60-day truce, Mikati said this was not discussed, adding that the French side is following the matter with U.S. officials.
The Israel-Hezbollah war has weakened Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group that dominated Lebanese politics for years. Hezbollah favored other candidates for president and prime minister and has criticized the choices of Aoun and Salam.
Macron last visited Lebanon in August 2020, days after a massive port blast in Beirut killed over 200 people and wounded thousands.
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