Aoun adviser meets with Raad in Dahieh

President Joseph Aoun’s adviser Brig. Gen. Andre Rahal met Friday in Beirut’s southern suburbs with MP Mohammad Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc.

According to the National News Agency, talks tackled “the current political situations, the course of matters and the stances of the various parties regarding them.”

Rahal had met Thursday with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

Another presidential adviser, Mohammad Obeid, had met with Raad in recent days to discuss Hezbollah's disarmament, ad-Diyar newspaper reported Wednesday.

According to the daily, Obeid assured Raad that if Israel does not abide by the U.S. paper -- by withdrawing from south Lebanon and halting its daily attacks -- the Cabinet's decision to disarm Hezbollah will not be implemented.

Ad-Diyar said further meetings would be held between Baabda and Hezbollah.

U.S. special envoy to Lebanon Tom Barrack said Monday as he visited Lebanon that the Lebanese government had done their part and "now what we need is for Israel to comply with that equal handshake."

The Lebanese government had endorsed last week a U.S.-backed plan for Hezbollah to disarm and tasked the army with developing a plan for the group's disarmament by year end.

The decision angered Hezbollah and its allies, who believe Israel's military should first withdraw from the five hilltops it has occupied in southern Lebanon since the end of its 14-month war with Hezbollah last November and stop launching almost daily airstrikes in the country.

Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's secretary-general, has vowed to fight efforts to disarm the group amid ongoing Israeli attacks and occupation, sowing fears of civil unrest in the country.