In a press release by UNIFIL, it said: "UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Michael Beary today met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Beirut.

Major General Beary congratulated the Prime Minister on the success of the Lebanese Government and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in recent military operations and commended the LAF and its leadership.

During the meetings, Major General Beary also briefed the Prime Minister on the renewal of UNIFIL's mandate, welcoming the unanimous decision by the UN Security Council through Resolution 2373, which extends the mandate through 31 August 2018.

The Head of UNIFIL and the Prime Minister also discussed the strengthened collaboration between UNIFIL and LAF.

"I appreciate the recent deployment of the Rapid Intervention Regiment as a first step towards the accelerated and durable deployment of the LAF in southern Lebanon and its territorial waters," said the UNIFIL Force Commander, noting that it will help to further enhance efforts in patrolling the Area of Operations.

The area south of the Litani River until the Blue Line has experienced an unprecedented 11-years of stability.

"Together with the LAF we need to build on the relative calm and further increase coordination to respond to incidents and prevent hostile activities especially along the Blue Line in a timely manner," said Major General Beary.

He also thanked the Lebanese leader for his continued support to the Mission, as well as for championing efforts towards a permanent ceasefire: "I was encouraged to hear from the Prime Minister very strong words of support to UNIFIL and the work we are doing on the ground, as well as reaffirmation of his government's commitment to the implementation of resolution 1701. The support and involvement of the government of Lebanon are essential for the success of UNIFIL's mission."

Later in the day, Major General Beary met with the Director General of Lebanon's General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, in Beirut

Source: NNA