French source says Barak will withdraw from south Lebanon

A well-informed French source specialize in Middle East peace and Middle East issues has announced that France has a strong feeling that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will meet his obligations in withdrawing from south Lebanon in July 2000.

In a report from Paris, the London-based al-Hayat daily said on Friday that the source expected the re-launching of the Syrian-Israeli negotiations very soon, adding that unless there was progress, US President Bill Clinton would not have met at the White House the Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa.

The French source said that France understands the Lebanese concerns over the problem of the Palestinian refugees, adding that its seems that it is for the first time all sides "are in a hurry to reach peace" for " different reasons."

The source added that the question of the Syrian presence in Lebanon after peace, though very important, yet is not debated at the present.