Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said that Hezbollah "poses no problem" as it is "an actor of political life" in Lebanon.

The meeting will be held outside of Paris under restricted circumstances with no access to press or non-participants. It will include about 40 representatives of the 14 Lebanese factions, with two figures representing each party, in addition to a number of representatives of civil society in Lebanon.

Andreani reiterated that "this is not an international conference. It is simply an informal meeting." She added that there should not be any accords or agreements excepted in the meeting as the meeting is just to provide a framework for all sides to discuss liberally their ideas and viewpoints.

"The aim of this meeting is that discussions take place." The meeting is meant "to calm the situation," the spokeswoman stressed.

Andreani expressed her countrys keenness that the meeting would be a "useful" one for the Lebanese factions to resume dialogue. -Kuna