UNIFIL Has ‘No Info’ about Shake-up Amid Report French Official will Visit Lebanon
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has no information about any decision by the countries that have contingents serving with the peacekeeping mission to downsize their troops, a UNIFIL spokesman, Andrea Tenenti, said.
“There is no information about any changes,” Tenenti told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Wednesday.
His comments came amid media reports that France was mulling to downsize its troops after the latest attack on a French UNIFIL patrol near the southern city of Tyre that left five peacekeepers injured.
An Nahar newspaper quoted diplomats as saying that several countries are mulling to limit their contribution to the mission. It said French Ambassador Denis Pietton confirmed the process by saying on Tuesday that a strategic review of the peacekeeping force’s operations is taking place in New York.
“We will then see what the results of the review will be,” he said.
An Nahar said that a French official will visit Lebanon soon. It did not give details on whether the official will inform Lebanese leaders about the French decision.
But Tenenti stressed to Asharq al-Awsat that the review taking place at the U.N. headquarters is not linked to the recent security incidents in the South.
“All the countries contributing troops to UNIFIL expressed, after the latest incident, their commitment to the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701,” he said.
The review’s main goal is to transfer greater responsibility from peacekeepers to the Lebanese army.
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