LEBANON, FRANCE TO SIGN SECURITY ACCORD

LEBANON, FRANCE TO SIGN SECURITY ACCORD

France and Lebanon on Monday approved theframework of a security agreement which they expect to sign within weeks, aFrench official said.

The accord was agreed during talks in Beirut between Lebanese InteriorMinister Ziad Baroud and French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie, who invited Baroud to Paris "for the signing in the coming weeks," the source said.

The agreement also stipulates bilateral cooperation to combat terrorism as well as drugs and arms trafficking, illegal immigration and cyber-crime.

Alliot-Marie, who arrived in Beirut on Sunday, met top officials including President Michel Sleiman and also attended the opening of Security MiddleEast, a regional arms exhibition being staged in Lebanon for the first time.