French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is expected to arrive in Beirut on Saturday, at the start of a Middle East tour during which he will discuss the instability in southern Lebanon and the situation in Gaza, sources in his entourage said on Wednesday.
This will be Sejourne’s second visit to the region, after the one he made in early February, shortly after taking office.
He is due to meet on Sunday the Head of Parliament, Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, General Joseph Aoun. Discussions will focus on the French proposals that Sejourne put forward in February to defuse the conflict on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Beirut has taken note of the French proposals, however, without endorsing them.
From Beirut, Sejourne will travel to Saudi Arabia. This will be his first visit to the oil-rich kingdom, focusing on economic, energy, environmental and defense issues.
The head of French diplomacy will be in Israel on April 30, before visiting the occupied Palestinian territories the following day.
France intends to play an active role “in efforts to find a political solution” to the war in Gaza, with a twofold aim, “to secure the release of the hostages” still being held by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and to obtain “a lasting ceasefire,” according to the minister’s entourage.
