TYRE, Lebanon: President Michel Sleiman inspected Friday U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese Army units in south Lebanon.

The president, who was accompanied by Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn, arrived in the border town of Naqoura aboard a military helicopter around 10 a.m.

He headed straight to the Naqoura headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) where he was met by Lebanese Army head Gen. Jean Kahwaji and UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Paolo Serra.

Sleiman held talks with Serra in Naqoura before heading to Benoit Barakat barracks of the Lebanese Army in Tyre.

A military band played the national Lebanese anthem before Sleiman was led into the barracks to give a speech.

Photographers were allowed in to shoot a few pictures and then asked to leave. They were told Sleiman's speech will be distributed to the media later.

"The president is visiting UNIFIL as part of a regular visit," UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told The Daily Star.

The local newspaper As-Safir said Friday that Sleiman’s visit would be an opportunity to highlight Lebanon’s commitment to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and urge the international community to compel Israel to abide by the resolution.

UNSCR 1701 brokered a cessation to the hostilities between Lebanon and the Jewish state following a 33-day conflict between the two sides.

Sleiman, according to the daily, would also underline the importance of cooperation and coordination between the Lebanese Army and U.N. peacekeepers operating in south Lebanon.

The president would also reaffirm that the government will spare no effort to provide the Army with logistics and arms supplies, it added.