Lebanon Says French President To Visit Saturday
French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Lebanon on Saturday to meet his newly elected counterpart Michel Suleiman and French U.N. peacekeeping troops, a Lebanese government official told AFP.
The official said Monday that Sarkozy will meet Suleiman as well as Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
He will then head to southern Lebanon to meet the French contingent of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon and is also due to meet members of the French community in Lebanon.
Sarkozy will be the first Western head of state to meet Suleiman since the former army chief was elected Lebanese president on May 25 following a Qatar- brokered deal to end an 18-month political crisis.