Security Council to Extend UNIFIL Mandate Next Week
The U.N. Security Council is expected to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for another year on August 27, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon”s spokesman Farhan Haq told An Nahar daily.
The newspaper said Friday that Ban sent a letter to Belgium”s U.N. envoy Jan Grauls, the Council chair this month, recommending the extension of UNIFIL”s mandate until August 31, 2009.
Ban”s move came after the Lebanese government asked the U.N. secretary general to extend for another year the peacekeepers” mission, which ends at the end of this month.
An Nahar quoted a diplomatic source as saying that a new draft resolution will be circulated among Council members to adopt it next Wednesday.