Today's Date:

THE MINISTER – We would remind them that it is of major importance that UNSCR 1701, which was unanimously approved by the Security Council, be respected on the ground. The dual process of the deployment of the Lebanese army in the southern part of the country and the Israeli withdrawal must be supported. There's a very, very delicate balance and it must be able to hold.

THE MINISTER – France is the first country to make a contribution on the ground. As you know, President Chirac wanted us to respond to the reinforcement of UNIFIL as a matter of urgency, as can be seen from the fact that in addition to the 200 men we already have there, we are sending 200 more. 50 have already arrived, 150 left Toulon this morning.

THE MINISTER – This is an emergency phase and we hope that Europe will show solidarity. I appeal here this morning to European solidarity as regards Lebanon. I have asked my counterpart, Mr Erkki Tuomioja, the Finnish Foreign Minister, currently the President of the European Council, to call a meeting as soon as possible concerning the political, military and humanitarian issues, to find out what our European partners wish to do.

Beyond this emergency phase, we want the United Nations to define more clearly the missions, chain of command, and manner in which UNIFIL is to be organized, to whom it is to report, and the rules of operation. What freedom of movement will this force have? How should it respond to an incident on the ground? And at what point should force be used? What means will this force be given to guarantee its safety? In other words, precise rules are needed, which above all we ask to be made known in advance. We're also waiting to see what the Muslim countries are going to do. It's not a question of deploying a solely Western force in the midst of southern Lebanon. Then and only then will we give our view on the sequence of events and the UNIFIL operation.

But the only problem in southern Lebanon today is a political one. It's not by a military solution – we have said this from the start – that we'll solve the problem of Hezbollah. It's through a political agreement. UNSCR 1701, which France contributed largely to getting approved a few days ago, is based on a political agreement.

THE MINISTER – Clearly Iran has a role to play.

THE MINISTER – For Syria, things are different. Syria is a country which has been put on the spot. UNSCR 1595 created an independent international Commission of Inquiry to shed full light on the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafiq Hariri. We want Judge Brammetz to carry on working completely independently in order to find out the truth on this matter and we do not want leaders in positions of responsibility, particularly in Syria, to be able to escape this international obligation, which is an international obligation in a criminal matter./.