French FM to visit Beirut in bid to 'separate' Lebanon from Gaza

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné will visit Beirut on Sunday to “follow up on the file of support for the Lebanese Army,” al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.

Séjourné will meet with Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker PM Najib Mikati, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib and possibly Army chief General Joseph Aoun, ahead of traveling to Saudi Arabia and from there to Tel Aviv, the daily said.

An informed political source meanwhile told the newspaper that the surprise visit is “part of the French endeavor that is trying to separate the arenas and disconnect the escalation in the south from the Gaza war, in a step that is coordinated with the Americans, especially after it turned out that the war in Gaza will drag on.”