Aoun Meets Trenta, Affirms Need for UNIFIL Troops

President Michel Aoun received on Tuesday at Baabda Palace, Italian Defense Minister Elisabetta Trenta leading a delegation of diplomats in the presence of Ambassador of Italy Massimo Mariotti.

Aoun stressed the importance of the UNIFIL role in southern Lebanon, saying “the Israeli threats and regional circumstances necessitate the renewal of the UNIFIL mandate under the same conditions.”

For her part, Trenta affirmed Italy’s commitment to work within the international forces in the south, expressing her country’s “support of Lebanon's request for the extension of the UNIFIL without any modification of its functions.”

In July, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the appointment of Major General Stefano Del Col of Italy as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Trenta had arrived in Beirut on Monday reportedly to follow up on the progress of the Rome II conference, the ceremony where authority will be transferred from current UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Michael Beary to Del Col.