US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that his talks with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday, Monday, covered the situation in Lebanon, especially with the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) ending on the 31st of next month, while Israel continues to occupy large areas of southern Lebanon and carry out attacks there.
Agence France-Presse quoted Rubio as saying after his meeting with Macron on the sidelines of the Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting in Paris, that the goal is to have a reliable entity on the ground capable of verifying the parties' commitment to the provisions of the framework agreement in experimental areas, considering that this does not necessarily require a military mission like the one carried out by UNIFIL, but could be civilian.
For its part, France is seeking to put in place a mechanism ensuring an international presence after the end of the UN force's mandate within the deadline set by the UN Security Council under US pressure, and Paris, in cooperation with Rome, wants to form a multinational force to replace UNIFIL.
Follow-up on the selection process of the Secretary-General
Meanwhile, Rubio said regarding the process of selecting the next UN Secretary-General: "We are following the process closely, and ultimately, what matters most to us is that the person chosen is committed to carrying out reforms in the United Nations."
He added: "I believe that one of the things capable of saving the United Nations is reforming it, and if that does not happen, it will face major problems, and we want a person in the position of Secretary-General who is strongly committed to the issue of reform."
Greenspan's support in the preliminary vote
The US Secretary of State denied that the United States is pushing for a specific candidate, considering that it would make him "doomed to lose," and said: "We see that there are two or three very qualified candidates, and we will let the voting process take its course in this framework, and at some point, the world will decide who it wants."
On October 30, former Vice President of Costa Rica and former Director-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Rebecca Greenspan (70 years old), again topped the seventh preliminary vote conducted by the Security Council regarding the potential candidate for the position of Secretary-General, ahead of Argentine Rafael Grossi and Caroline Rodriguez Berquet.
International context
Diplomatic talks between the United States and France continue regarding the future of security in Lebanon, focusing on ensuring the continuity of international oversight through civilian or multinational military mechanisms, amid current geopolitical changes.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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