UN chief Ban Ki-moon is to visit Lebanon next week. He will meet with officials as well as members of the UN peacekeeping force in the south.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon is to visit Lebanon next week. He will meet with officials as well as members of the UN peacekeeping force in the south.

Ban's three-day trip would start on January 13, a governor official, speaking on condition anonymity
The UN chief is to meet with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Najib Miqati and the commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

On January 15, he is also scheduled to give the opening remarks at a two-day UN conference in Beirut on reform and transition to democracy in the Arab world.

UNIFIL forces were the target of several attacks in 2011. The latest attack in December wounded five French peacekeepers.

UNIFIL was initially deployed in 1978 to oversee peace along the Palestinian-Lebanese border but was boosted after the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah.
It currently has about 13,500 troops and civilian staff.