France appeared to soft-peddle its previous demand that the Lebanese government deploy the army all the way to the southern border Tuesday, with Prime Minister Lionel Jospin saying this was a purely internal Lebanese matter, reported the Daily Star newspaper.
Jospin made the remark during a meeting with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on the second day of his visit to Paris.
“This is a decision that is entirely up to the Lebanese government,” sources in the Lebanese delegation quoted Jospin as telling Lahoud. “There can be no substitute for the Lebanese government in this respect.”
The comment was a marked departure from the recent campaign spearheaded by France and the United States to have Beirut deploy the army along the border to prevent resistance attacks and eliminate the prospect of a new confrontation, said the paper.
Citing sources in the Lebanese delegation, the paper said that Jospin also broached the sensitive issue of alleged human-rights violations in Lebanon, indirectly referring to the Lebanese government’s reluctance to make a truce with anti-Syrian activists such as the disbanded Lebanese Forces and the exiled former army commander, Michel Aoun.
According to the sources, Lahoud responded: “After years of war, Lebanon has regained normalcy. But those who try to spread claims of human-rights violations are the same people who were involved in the war, killing innocent citizens. They are the ones who never observed human rights.”
As for regional tensions, Jospin expressed optimism over the impending visit of Syrian President Bashar Assad to France next month, while Lahoud explained the importance of preserving tight Lebanese-Syrian relations, said the paper.
Lahoud also commended Syria’s role in buttressing national reconciliation and uniting the army after the end of the civil war.
Jospin underlined France’s desire to upgrade commercial links, noting that the European country was Lebanon’s second-largest trading partner after Italy.
He also praised preparations undertaken by the Lebanese government for hosting the Francophone summit in October.
The French government, Jospin added, was consulting with international financial institutions on ways to reduce Lebanon’s $24 billion debt, and help resuscitate the Lebanese economy. He also reiterated France’s readiness to help in the privatization process once it gets under way, a desire which French President Jacques Chirac had conveyed to Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri during the latter’s April visit to Paris, the paper added.
“France obviously feels a special responsibility toward Lebanon,” French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin told reporters outside Jospin’s office in summing up the talks.
Meanwhile, reports said that a group of 14 people were rounded up by police as they chanted anti-Lahoud slogans and tried to pelt the president with eggs.
However, a source in the Lebanese delegation denied that the protest was aimed at Lahoud, insisting the crowd was too distant from the president’s stop, said the Daily Star – Albawaba.com
