UN chief Guterres presents options for future Lebanon presence

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has written to U.N. Security Council members stressing the need for a continued uniformed U.N. presence in Lebanon after the mandate of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) expires at the year-end.



Guterres outlined three options to replace the 7,500-strong UNIFIL in a letter to the 15 members of the Security Council dated Monday and seen by Reuters. They ranged from a light presence with limited capabilities to a more robust force with broader monitoring and de-escalation capabilities, and from around 1,980 to 5,525 uniformed personnel.