United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix stressed Tuesday that he held constructive discussions with Prime Minister Saad Hariri, noting that he tackled with him the ongoing cooperation between the Lebanese authorities and the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon.
Speaking from the Grand Serail, Lacroix said that “they have been working in the southern part of Lebanon, an area with a population they know well,” adding that they have also been interacting with them for many years, as well as with the local authorities, with the national authorities of Lebanon, and with the Lebanese security forces and armed forces.
“This is absolutely essential to us. If we don't have that cooperation, we cannot implement our mandate and we cannot contribute to preserving this relatively peaceful situation. The fact that today we have a new government in Lebanon and the possibility to move forward on some important projects regarding the strengthening of the Lebanese armed forces present in the South, the strengthening of the maritime capacity of the Lebanese armed forces, the possibility to further increase the number of Lebanese forces in the south, all of this is very important to us because we are working with the Lebanese authorities and security forces and we look forward to doing more of this,” he explained.