By John Irish
PARIS (Reuters) – Lebanese President Joseph Aoun began talks in Paris on Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss economic reforms and efforts to stabilise the country, as a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah increasingly comes under pressure.
Making his first trip to a Western nation, Aoun was seeking to shore up support from Paris after the new prime minister, Nawaf Salam, succeeded in putting together a government after two years of stalemate.
Under a ceasefire deal brokered by France and the United States in November, armed group Hezbollah was to remove its weapons from southern Lebanon, Israeli ground forces were to withdraw, and the Lebanese army was to deploy in the area. Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel have all accused each other of violating the accords.
The Israeli military said on Friday it was striking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, hours after missiles were fired from Lebanese territory into Israel.
“It seems to us today that we have to move forward on the possibility of a complete respect of the ceasefire,” a French presidency official told reporters ahead of the visit, whose country, along with the U.S., is a guarantor of the accord.
The official said Paris was in contact with President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his deputy Morgan Ortagus on the issue.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will join Aoun and Macron by video call to also discuss the broader situation in Lebanon’s neighbour and ties between the two after 10 people were killed in cross-border clashes earlier in March.
“The contacts we were able to have with the Syrian authorities … aim to underline the need for Damascus to confirm its commitment not to interfere in the affairs of its neighbours, but also work to keep their neighbour’s security regarding threats that could come from their territory,” the French official said.
The Cypriot president and the Greek prime minister will also join the talks in person. The two countries have been cautious about lifting EU sanctions on Syria, in part due to objections to maritime boundary talks between Syria and Turkey that could affect waters claimed by Greece and Cyprus.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Comments