The outgoing head of UNIFIL, Major-General Luciano Portolano, has stressed the importance of continuing close engagement and relations with the local population and the authorities for successful implementation of the UN Mission’s mandate.

On a recent visit to see the work of UNIFIL’s Maritime Task Force (MTF) off the coast of Beirut Port, the UN Mission’s head and Force Commander, Major-General Luciano Portolano, commended the UN’s only naval peacekeepers for their specialized role in Lebanon.

The Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Major-General Luciano Portolano, today chaired a regular tripartite meeting with senior officials from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the UN position at Ras Al