Macron heads to Lebanon to push sovereignty, reforms amid new hope

BEIRUT (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron called on Israel on Friday to accelerate its troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon, as a deadline for the pullout nears under the terms of a ceasefire which ended the war with Hezbollah last year.

Speaking during a visit to Beirut, Macron also said Lebanon's military must have a total monopoly on weapons, and he voiced France's support for strengthening the Lebanese army's deployment in the south.

"We need a total withdrawal of the Israeli army," Macron said, speaking alongside Lebanon's new president, Joseph Aoun, who was commander of the Lebanese military until his election this month as head of state.

"We support... the increased power of the Lebanese armed forces and their deployment in the south of the country," the French president said. "The Lebanese armed forces constitute a pillar of the sovereignty of Lebanon."

Macron is the first foreign head of state to visit Beirut since Aoun was elected by Lebanon's parliament to fill the vacant post of head of state on Jan. 9, signalling a shift in the country's power balance after the war which left Iran-backed Hezbollah badly weakened.

The ceasefire, which took effect on Nov. 27 and was brokered by the United States and France, requires Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon within 60 days, and for Hezbollah to remove all its fighters and weapons from the south.

(Reporting by John Irish, Elizabeth Pineau, and Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Laila Bassam in Beirut, Clauda Tanios in Dubai; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Gareth Jones)