LEBANON: French Defence Minister Herve Morin visits Lebanon

French defence minister Herve Morin met on Sunday ( July 15) with his Lebanese counterpart Elias al Murr at his residence in Rabiyeh and discussed the latest developments in Lebanon . Morin visited earlier on Sunday French peacekeepers in south Lebanon. " He ( the French Defence Minister) told me that he visited the French peacekeepers and told me that their morale is high and they will continue their mission in south Lebanon to implement UN resolution 1701," al-Murr said after the meeting with Morin. Around 1650 French troops are serving in the UN force in south Lebanon. "As you know this morning I arrived in Lebanon to celebrate the July 14 holiday with the French troops and to see if moral is good, if their mission is being undertaken in the most effective way," Morin told reporters. France is the second-biggest contributor of troops to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which since August has been patrolling the south in an effort to prevent a return of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia. The U.N. force is being deployed in the south of Lebanon after UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which halted Israel's 34-day war with militant Islamic group Hezbollah on Aug. 14. France is hosting a meeting for Rival Lebanese politicians near Paris in a French-sponsored attempt to discuss ways of ending the 8-month-old political crisis gripping their country.

ITN Source | July 16, 2007

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