Aides of Aoun, Berri and Salam meet in Baabda over US paper

A meeting between representatives of President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has been underway at the Baabda Palace since Monday morning, Al-Jadeed TV reported in the afternoon.

The representatives are discussing “the U.S. paper that was carried by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack to Beirut,” Al-Jadeed said.

“The meeting, the second after a first meeting held Saturday, is witnessing the participation of President Joseph Aoun’s representatives Jean Aziz, Rabih al-Shaer, Didier Rahal and Tony Mansour, Speaker Nabih Berri’s representative Ali Hamdan, and PM Nawaf Salam’s representative Farah al-Khatib,” Al-Jadeed added.

Lebanon wants guarantees that Israeli forces will fully withdraw from Lebanese territory in response to Barrack’s demand that Beirut formally commit to disarming Hezbollah, a Lebanese official said Monday.

The Lebanese government official told AFP that in a recent visit, Barrack had presented the demand for Beirut to officially commit to start disarming the Iran-backed group as stipulated in the November agreement, along with a full Israeli withdrawal.

Aoun, Salam and Berri -- who is a key Hezbollah ally -- "are preparing a response," said the official on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.

With Barrack expected back in Beirut by mid-July, the Lebanese leaders "will demand a halt to Israeli violations of the ceasefire, Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the release of prisoners (detained during the war) and the demarcation of the border," said the official.