Lebanese PM to visit France

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who attended the annual Mar Maroun Day mass in Beirut Thursday, will leave later in the day for an official two-day visit to Paris, where he will hold talks with French officials, including President Nicholas Sarkozy, Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppe. Mikati said the visit is an important one and it confirms the historical relations between Lebanon and France. Lebanese PM denied that the invitation is a reward for having secured Lebanon's share of the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). “I don’t want this trip to be explained in terms of compensation for the funding of the STL. I consider this decision to be in the interests of the country only,” Mikati told Lebanese French-language newspaper L'Orient le Jour in an interview published on Thursday. The Lebanese prime minister also said the trip should not be seen as an occasion to put pressure on Syria. Asked about Juppe spearheading a campaign against Damascus and whether this was problematic for Lebanon, Mikati said: “Everyone is free to take a stance. It is not part of my role to dictate his opinions ... The French minister will put forward his and I will explain mine.” Mikati repeated his opposition to using Lebanon against the government in Syria. “I refuse to let Lebanon be used as a conduit against an Arab country, whichever country that may be,” Mikati said. “Moreover, our country is divided on Syria and we have interests that we have to take into account ... we share the 80 per cent of our frontiers with Syria. All of that needs to be taken into consideration,” Mikati added. Mikati also said he would contact his predecessor, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, while in Paris. “We are from the Orient and according to our customs and traditions it is normal to check up on the health of someone who has had an accident and surgery,” Mikati said. “If time permits, I might also visit him, but this would have nothing to do with politics,” he added.