G7 agrees on need to avoid 'security void' in Lebanon after UN force mandate ends

G7 foreign ministers agreed on "the need to avoid a security void" in Lebanon after UN peacekeepers pull out, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday after a meeting of the group in Paris. They also backed "the need to move quickly toward a new security architecture" after the mandate of United Nations peacekeeping forces expires at the end of the year, he said. But Barrot acknowledged there had been no breakthrough on what should replace the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which has been in place since 1978 and now counts some 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries.