BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati is set to leave behind Cabinet headaches Thursday for a short visit to Paris where he will discuss a number of pressing political and security issues with French officials, Grand Serail and French diplomatic sources told The Daily Star Tuesday.

Mikati will leave Beirut after attending Mar Maroun’s Day mass Thursday afternoon and will spend Friday meeting with French officials, including President Nicholas Sarkozy, Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who invited Mikati, and Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who will hold a dinner in the Lebanese premier’s honor that evening.

French diplomatic and ministerial sources said it would be natural that the current prime minister pay former Prime Minister Saad Hariri a visit during the trip. Hariri is currently in Paris recovering from a ski injury he suffered last month.

Sources described the visit as “routine” – especially given the historical ties the two countries share – and not tied to the current political situations in Lebanon or Syria.

The sources added, however, that Mikati would address these issues with Sarkozy and other French officials.

Mikati will discuss his government’s position on Syria and will maintain that Lebanon has no interest in interfering in Syrian affairs, and French officials will respect this stance, they added. This was echoed by the French diplomatic source who said that Paris appreciates Lebanon’s unique situation and will “not ask the government to do what it cannot.”

France has been a staunch critic of the Syrian regime’s violent crackdown on a popular uprising in the country.

Mikati will also meet with business leaders and the business association, MEDEF International.

The visit will wrap up in a ceremony Saturday held by Lebanon’s Ambassador to France Boutros Asaker.

The prime minister will travel with advisers but no ministers will accompany him. Ministerial sources said that Mikati had never intended to bring any ministers and his meeting with Juppe had not been part of the original schedule, denying reports earlier in the week that Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour and Mikati had a dispute over the trip.

This will be Mikati’s second visit to France since he assumed office in June. He traveled to Paris for a conference on Libya in September.

On the regional front, French officials are expected to bring up the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and, in particular, what could be done if the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate and refugees flood the border.

The treatment of members of the Syrian opposition in Lebanon and protection of their human rights could also be raised, according to the French diplomatic source.

There are currently 6,375 registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Sources from both sides said Mikati would ask about George Ibrahim Abdullah, a Lebanese man convicted of killing Israeli and American military officials, who remains in French custody. Abdullah’s supporters argue that his sentence ended in 1999 and he should be released.

Several projects are also expected to be announced, including a water purification project in Kesrouan that will receive 70 million euros from France.