Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will head to Rome this week for talks on the future of the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, whose mandate ends this year, a Lebanese official told the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n
The visit scheduled for Thursday comes after Italy and France said in June that they wanted to set up a multinational coalition to succeed the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.<\/p>\n
Both countries provide the U.N. force with large troop contingents.<\/p>\n
Aoun is to meet his counterpart Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to discuss “the future of the international forces, particularly in light of the French-Italian initiative to set up a force to replace UNIFIL,” the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
Aoun will also meet Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican and brief him on “the contacts Lebanon has been making since negotiations began” with Israel, the official added.<\/p>\n
Aoun has said Lebanon’s preferred choice is an extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, a move opposed by Israel.<\/p>\n
On Monday, he said “the second choice is adopting a formula that ensures the continued presence of international forces in the south,” alongside Lebanon’s army.<\/p>\n
A framework agreement reached in June between Israel and Lebanon calls for the disarmament of Iran-backed Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region.<\/p>\n
Despite a weeks-long lull in fighting, Israel has kept up intermittent strikes and heavy demolition operations in south Lebanon, where its forces have occupied a strip of land stretching around 6 miles into Lebanese territory.<\/p>\n
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