Miqati Heads to Rio for Sustainable Development Summit

Prime Minister Najib Miqati travelled to Brazil on Friday to take part in the U.N. conference on sustainable development that opens in Rio de Janeiro next week.

A statement released by his press office said Miqati will lead Lebanon’s delegation to the U.N. Rio+20 conference that is set to be held on June 20-22.

The Lebanese delegation that includes Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, Environment Minister Nazem al-Khoury, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas, Energy Minister Jebran Bassil and Lebanon’s permanent ambassador to the U.N. Nawaf Salam will later join Miqati, the statement added.

More than 180 delegations from the 193 U.N. member countries will attend the event, which builds upon the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Also Friday, Miqati held talks with UNIFIL Force Commander Maj. Gen. Paolo Serra, who also visited Speaker Nabih Berri and Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn.

“Issues related to the implementation of UNIFIL's mandate under U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 were discussed, with particular focus on cooperation between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF),” a spokesperson said.

Serra also met with President Michel Suleiman on Thursday.