Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib will head to New York next week to take part in the Security Council discussions related to the renewal of the UNIFIL mandate at the end of this month.
Ahead of his departure, Bou Habib held diplomatic meetings mainly focused on this issue and on the changes that could be made to the Security Council resolution, set to extend the UNIFIL mandate by one year.
The United States is in favor of maintaining the current structure, which gives peacekeeping forces free access to the places they need to check in this region. Lebanon, on the other hand, is emphasizing the value of early coordination with its military to improve stability in the border region.
Lebanon is hoping for sustained support for its position, which was most likely the context of the talks that Bou Habib had on Friday with French Chargé d’Affaires François Guillaume, Deputy Special Coordinator of the United Nations for Lebanon Imran Riza, and the Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Jian Minjian.
Following a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in April, Bou Habib had emphasized that “Lebanon is ready to cooperate with UNIFIL and take adequate precautions to consolidate stability in the South,” while warning against Israel’s provocative intentions that endanger regional and global peace and security.
