French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday (December 8th) warned regional powers against meddling in Lebanon at an international meeting aimed at fending off pressure on Lebanon, AFP reported.
Macron said it was "essential that all of the parties in Lebanon and regional actors respect the cardinal principle of non-interference" in the affairs of other countries.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and representatives from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with Germany, Italy and Egypt attended the meeting in Paris.
The meeting ended with plans for three follow-up conferences: one in Paris in early 2018 on boosting investment in Lebanon; another in Rome on building up Lebanon's regular army; and a third in Brussels on helping the roughly 1.5 million Syrian refugees that have fled there.
"Lebanon's stability is not only crucial for its inhabitants but for the entire region," Macron said, demanding that the sovereignty of Lebanon be respected.
The International Support Group for Lebanon was launched in September 2013 partly in response to the huge influx of refugees from Syria.
