Berri and Paris don't trust US promises on Israel withdrawal

Speaker Nabih Berri “does not trust all the promises that are being made by the Americans” regarding the Israeli army’s withdrawal from south Lebanon by the Feb. 18 deadline, his visitors said.

The French who are part of the ceasefire monitoring committee have also not concealed their lack of confidence in Washington’s desire to press Israel to withdraw from all the locations it has occupied, the visitors told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

Official Lebanese sources meanwhile told the daily that “intensive contacts have taken place with the U.S. and French ceasefire sponsors to settle that the Israeli withdrawal will take place on time.”

“The French side is in continuous contact with the Israeli side and is exerting major efforts to finalize the withdrawal on time,” the newspaper quoted “credible” sources as saying.