News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said over the weekend that France would work to prevent Iran and Syria from destabilizing Lebanon.  Kouchner’s announcement was made in a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit. 

The meeting with Aboul-Gheit was one of a series of meetings with Arab leaders as part of Kouchner’s efforts to mediate between rival Lebanese factions, mainly Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the opposition led by Hizbullah head Hassan Nasrallah.  “The Lebanese themselves don’t agree,” Kouchner said over the weekend, “and that’s the problem, there’s a lack of trust between them.”