A French diplomatic source confirmed to 'An-Nahar' that the mission of French Presidential Envoy Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Lebanon on Wednesday and Thursday is to prepare for the Lebanese Army support conference in Paris, which may be held either in the second half of February or in early March.

Le Drian's visit gains significance as it coincides with the visit of the Saudi envoy interested in the Lebanese issue, Prince Yazid bin Farhan, and from the level of meetings that Le Drian will have with the three presidents only due to the shortness of his visit, after which he will head to Saudi Arabia to continue his mission as the head of the French-Saudi participation in the Al-Ula project. The source expects a meeting of representatives from five countries with the arrival of a Qatari official to Lebanon and the presence of the American ambassador Michel Issa, who has become fully responsible for the Lebanese file, and the Egyptian ambassador in Lebanon.

The source adds that French President Emmanuel Macron and his Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot affirmed during the French ambassadors' conference in Paris their determination to continue strong support for Lebanon, and they remain concerned about Israel's continuous intentions in bombing operations in Lebanon, and it is unknown if there is an intention to escalate further. The French president also tweeted that he views the Lebanese government's enactment of the financial gap law as encouraging on the path to reforms and positioning Lebanon on the track to recovery.

Macron is making significant efforts to gather countries to finance assistance to the Lebanese Army and internal security, and he also intends to organize a conference to economically assist Lebanon later. However, Paris awaits the Lebanese Army to present its strategy for the second phase of disarming and detail its needs for the support conference.

Moreover, the source dismissed what Lebanese media published about Le Drian coming to discuss the post-UNIFIL withdrawal, saying this issue awaits the UN's report on UNIFIL’s work expected in days, and while Le Drian may briefly touch upon it, this is not the visit's aim, which focuses on preparing for the army support conference and the economic reconstruction conference. There are 250 million dollars from the World Bank and 70 million euros from France that Lebanon must demonstrate its ability to spend appropriately, dedicated to infrastructure in the south under the supervision of a World Bank team.