France, Aug. 29 -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday welcomed a United Nations decision to keep its peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon until 2027.

"This is an important message and we welcomed it," Macron said on social media after speaking with Lebanon's president Joseph Aoun and prime minister Nawaf Salam.

"I welcomed the courageous decisions taken by the Lebanese executive to re-establish the monopoly of force. I encourage the Lebanese government to adopt the plan that will be presented to the cabinet to this end."

The UN Security Council voted on Thursday to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) by 16 months.

Unifil was created in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli troops ...