Barrack talks Lebanon with Saudi official, seeks 'step-by-step' Lebanon-Israel solution
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has said that Hezbollah has vanished militarily and that Lebanon might join the Abraham peace accords, Al-Jadeed television reported.
“The U.S. envoy met in Riyadh with Prince Yazid bin Farhan in a bilateral meeting that stretched until late hours of the night and the Lebanese file was on the table,” Al-Jadeed added.
Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper meanwhile said that Barrack gave Lebanese officials a deadline that ends on July 10 to respond to the U.S. demands.
“There are consultations between the three presidents (Joseph Aoun, Nabih Berri and Nawaf Salam) to reach a unified vision for responding to the demands carried by Barrack during his visit,” parliamentary sources told al-Anbaa, adding that the U.S. envoy is expected to return to Beirut within days to listen to the Lebanese response to the so-called U.S. working paper.
The paper “tackles the various aspects of the Lebanese file, from the issue of Lebanese and Palestinian arms to the issue of the northern, eastern and southern lands borders and Israeli withdrawal,” al-Anbaa added.
“While Barrack is expected to return to Lebanon in the first half of July, reports said that he prefers that the Lebanese side make a first move before the U.S. asks Israel to make a step in return, which would launch a step-by-step policy, leading to further steps by Lebanon in return for a faster Israeli withdrawal, the start of the handover of captives, and talks over the 13 contested border points,” the daily said.
“If this process goes as planned, Lebanon will be able to get grants and incentives from the international community related to reconstruction and to activating the reform process, but before anything else things hinge on beginning to hand over arms north of the Litani so that the step-by-step process can get on track,” the newspaper added.
“The U.S. administration is insisting on a quick and official Lebanese answer, without ambiguity or procrastination as happened several times, seeing as the international community is focused on other matters and believes that this is a chance that Lebanon should not miss,” al-Anbaa added.
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