However, Syria has recently sought to convey the impression that it respects Lebanese sovereignty and independence, and in October last year it agreed to establish formal diplomatic relations for the first time since the two former French Mandate territories became independent in the 1940s.

ECONOMIST: The road to Damascus

That agreement was superceded by another which established a mandate system of French and British control, sanctioned by the new League of Nations.

NPR: The Middle East and the West: WWI and Beyond

He will - in the most diplomatic way - tell her that the French people have given him a mandate to make growth his priority.

BBC: Growth versus austerity