France's defense minister said on Thursday that "several" countries had expressed an interest in buying its Mistral-class warships, after Paris refused to deliver them to Russia because of the Ukraine crisis.

"A certain number of countries -- there are several -- have made their interest known for these boats," Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio.

Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Deputy PM Defense Minister Samir Moqbel attend Thursday the inauguration of a major extension of the Suez Canal in Egypt.

The three officials are expected to return to Beirut the same day.

France said Wednesday it had agreed a compensation deal with Russia for failing to deliver two Mistral warships due to the Ukraine crisis, drawing to a close a months-long diplomatic and commercial spat.

The fate of the ships has long plagued Franco-Russian ties following Paris' decision in November to put the 1.2-billion-euro ($1.3-billion) deal on ice as the West slapped sanctions on Moscow over its annexation of Crimea and backing of rebels in Ukraine.

Experts in France began examining a washed-up plane part Wednesday which likely belonged to the MH370 plane that vanished mysteriously last year, hoping to find clues to one of aviation's greatest enigmas.

The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared on March 8 last year, inexplicably veering off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, sparking a colossal but ultimately fruitless multinational hunt for the aircraft.

Technical experts in France were to begin examining Wednesday whether a washed-up plane part belonged to missing flight MH370, raising hopes that some light may finally be shed on one of aviation's darkest mysteries.

The Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8 last year when it inexplicably veered course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, and a colossal multinational hunt for the aircraft proved fruitless.

Diplomats have said that Paris was able to clinch the Lebanese authorities' approval to appoint Emmanuel Bonne as ambassador to Beirut despite the failure of several missions to receive a positive feedback from the Lebanese authorities.

The diplomats, who were not identified, told An Nahar daily published on Tuesday that “only France has so far been able to receive an official approval (from Beirut) to appoint Bonne.”

Mauritius said Monday it would do all it can to search in its Indian Ocean waters for possible debris from Malaysia Airlines missing flight MH370, after wreckage washed up on nearby La Reunion.

"We have responded positively to a request from the government of Malaysia," Deputy Prime Minister Xavier-Luc Duval told reporters Monday. "Every effort will be undertaken to locate any debris."

Malaysian aviation experts met French officials Monday to coordinate the investigation into missing flight MH370, days after the discovery of a washed-up plane part offered fresh hopes of solving the mystery.

The Malaysian team arrived at the Palais de Justice in Paris shortly before 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) to meet with a French judge, a group of experts and police charged with the investigation.

Migrants in Calais made around 1,700 attempts overnight to penetrate the Channel Tunnel premises in a bid to get to England, French police sources said Monday, and an officer sustained facial injuries from a stone.

Of the 1,700 attempts, some 1,000 were "pushed back" by authorities and 700 were intercepted within the 650-hectare Channel Tunnel site, police added.

Officials resumed on Monday discussing the country's waste crisis as Prime Minister Tammam Salam said that the export of garbage is among the proposals under discussion.

“The suggestion to export waste is among several other proposals” that are being discussed by the involved officials, Salam told As Safir daily.