Chirac to address nation over Lebanon

Paris, Aug 24: French President Jacques Chirac will go on national television today to announce how France plans to back the fragile peace process in Lebanon and the West Asia his office said.

Chirac was also to chair a meeting in Paris on Lebanon later today attended by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and his ministers of foreign affairs, defence, Europe and the interior.

France, which led calls for a robust international force to police a shaky ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hizbollah guerrillas, has been heavily criticised for sending only an extra 200 soldiers to Lebanon to bolster an existing UN force.

Reuters

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