France and South Lebanon French foreign minister

Allan Richard has stressed in a statement to the London- Based al-Sharq al-Awsat ( Middle East) daily issued on Friday that France does not want a new Sera Leone in South Lebanon.

He added that France's approval to take part in the international forces in South Lebanon following the Israeli withdrawal is linked to the release of a clear mandate by the UN Security Council which determines the mission of the international forces and the rules which govern its work, precisely and in a harmonious way.

In his statements he made from an air military base, near Nancy, east France where he was attending maneuvers for the French air forces, Richard added that preconditions set by France to accept participation in UNIFIL is that the framework for the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon to have become clear enough and military means for the UN forces will be ensured and to be provided by heavy equipment.

Richard remarked that France does not want a new Sera Leone in South Lebanon, where hundreds of the UN force were captured because the UN Security Council prevented this force from using its arms, only in a very limited case which is self-defense.