Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri has said the United States’s refusal to renew the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) mandate requires an alternative UN peacekeeping force with European and US backing to operate in southern Lebanon.
– In an interview with Asharq Al-Aswat, Berri, one of the most influential Shia politicians in Lebanon, warned that without a UN mandate, there would be no legal basis for an international presence in the area.
– This presence is essential to the Lebanese army’s efforts to extend state sovereignty over its territories, which is conditioned on full Israeli withdrawal, he said.
– Berri rejected bilateral agreements between Lebanon and Israel as an alternative to international presence in the South in the interview, as long as Israel refuses to implement what was agreed under the US-sponsored “framework agreement”.
– Despite his initial rejection of the framework agreement, Berri proposed expanding it to the district level based on administrative divisions in the south.
– UNIFIL’s mandate in southern Lebanon is set to expire on December 31.
https://aje.news/764cwd?update=4897231