BEIRUT (earthtimes.org) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrived Thursday in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders on the situation in Lebanon and regional peace efforts. “Cabinet formation is an internal issue,” Kouchner said on arrival at Rafik Hariri international airport. “They (the Lebanese) can form their government without anybody's help.”

He said he would meet with “all Lebanese leaders and representatives from the Lebanese Islamic resistance movement Hezbollah, which is represented in parliament.”
Kouchner met with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, Premier Saad Hariri, Free Patriotic Movement opposition Christian leader Michel Aoun, Phalange chief Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Hezbollah MP Mohammed Raad.
Saad Hariri, who was appointed Lebanon's premier earlier this month, is still struggling to form a national unity government which will include all rival Lebanese factions.
According to an official source who requested anonymity, Kouchner was to discuss French-Lebanese ties, Lebanese-Syrian relations and U.S. efforts to restart peace talks in the region.
Lebanese-Syrian ties soured after the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.
Kouchner attended on Thursday night a concert by French singer Charles Aznavour in Beiteddine, southeast of Beirut, and meet with Druze leader and MP Walid Jumblatt.
The French foreign minister will visit Syria on Saturday.
Photo:
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner speaks during a press conference after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 10, 2009. Kouchner discussed with the Lebanese President regional affairs as well as the formation of a new Cabinet following last month's parliamentary elections that were won by a March 14 coalition. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)