AFP - France stands ready to send people to Lebanon to observe or to help with key legislative elections planned next year, visiting French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Friday."France is ready, if Lebanon so wishes, to provide technical support during the elections," Fillon said as he spoke with French and Lebanese business leaders.Assistance could consist of helping organise the polls or providing observers as part of a European Union initiative, his office said.The international community has said that it will closely be watching the polls planned in the spring, when the powerful Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah and its allies could gain a majority in parliament.

Fillon hailed the recent establishment of diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon but warned that this must be followed by concrete measures."The border between both countries needs to be delineated, controls along the border need to be strengthened and the issue of the Lebanese missing needs to be resolved," the premier said.He was referring to hundreds of Lebanese who went missing during the country's 1975-1990 civil war and who are thought to be held in Syrian prisons.

Syria held sway in Lebanese politics for nearly three decades until 2005 when it was forced to pull its troops from the country following the death of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in a massive car bomb. It has denied any role in the killing.Fillon, who was accompanied on his two-day trip by a delegation of businessmen, encouraged further investment by French companies in Lebanon, where he said the situation has stabilized following a accord in May that put an end to a crippling 18-month political crisis.

"I encourage French investors to choose Lebanon," he said.On Thursday, Fillon signed a number of economic accords related to a 500-million-euro loan promised by Paris in 2007. The money was pledged for reconstruction following the devastating 2006 summer war between Hezbollah and Israel.The premier wrapped up his two-day visit by traveling to southern Lebanon to meet French soldiers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.Fillon was last in Lebanon in June when he accompanied President Nicolas Sarkozy on a visit aimed at offering support to the newly elected Lebanese President Michel Sleiman.