Moussawi Meets Hollande's Adviser in First Talks with EU Officials since Blacklisting Hizbullah
Hizbullah International Relations official Ammar Moussawi held talks on Friday with a French presidential aide in Beirut, months after the European Union listed the party's military wing as a terrorist organization.
Hizbullah said Moussawi discussed regional and local developments with Emmanuel Bonne, French President Francois Hollande's adviser for Middle East affairs.
A French embassy source told Agence France Presse Bonne was in the country for "talks with all political parties" and would be joined on Monday by the French army's chief of staff, Admiral Edouard Guillaud.
It was the first meeting of its kind between a French official and a Hizbullah leader since July 22 when the EU listed the party's military wing as a terrorist organization.
But at the time the EU stressed it will continue to dialogue with all the parties in Lebanon.
The meeting also comes just weeks after Saudi Arabia and France pledged to help arm the army.
On December 29 President Michel Suleiman announced that Saudi Arabia had pledged $3 billion for the Lebanese army to buy French equipment.
Hollande, who was visiting Riyadh at the time, later said France was ready to "meet" any requests by the government to arm the military institution.
The EU said it added Hizbullah's military wing to its list of terror organizations because of "evidence" it was involved in an attack in Bulgaria in July 2012 that killed seven people, including five Israelis.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://mobile.naharnet.com/stories/en/114501 |