French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to visit Lebanon at the head of a large delegation of government ministers and leaders of French opposition parties.

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The army chief was elected after months of political division which exploded into bloody clashes last month.

Earlier, Mr Sarkozy cancelled a planned visit to French troops serving in the UN peacekeeping force in the south.

French officials said he wanted to maintain the "political character" of the visit.

French Defence Minister Herve Morin will visit the troops instead.

Opening dialogue

Mr Sarkozy will be the first Western head of state to hold talks with Gen Suleiman since the multiparty agreement that brought him to the presidency two weeks ago.

He will also meet representatives of all 14 Lebanese political parties.

The French leader will be accompanied by Prime Minister Francois Fillon as well as his defence and foreign ministers - but also more unusually by the leaders of his country's main opposition parties.

A spokesman said the aim was to send a strong message of friendship and hope to a country which in France's view had only narrowly escaped catastrophe.

Tensions in Lebanon between the opposition led by Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, and the pro-Western government erupted into violence early last month, leaving more than 65 people dead.

But the rival factions later pulled the situation back from the brink to reach a new power-sharing agreement leading to a national unity government after talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Under Mr Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac - a close friend of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri - French policy towards Lebanon was clearly aligned with the anti-Syrian government.

This continued under Mr Sarkozy with the suspension of high-level diplomatic contacts with Damascus for four months earlier this year.

But the aim now seems to be to open a dialogue with all the main parties.

(BBC)

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