President Joseph Aoun met on Thursday with Saudi Arabia’s special envoy for Lebanon, Prince Yazid bin Farhan, at Baabda Palace.
The Saudi envoy’s visit precedes the arrival in Beirut of United States envoy Tom Barrack, who gave Lebanese officials a one-week deadline to respond to the US roadmap for Lebanon – which aims, among other things, to disarm Hezbollah – and six months to deliver tangible results.
Citing unnamed sources, al‑Arabiya reported that Barrack emphasized failure to meet these deadlines would trigger a freeze in cooperation with the Quintet Committee (comprising France, the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt), and could jeopardize the future of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Barrack’s proposal calls for an expanded mandate for the Ceasefire Monitoring Committee in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah’s traditional stronghold, and a substantial reinforcement of the Lebanese Armed Forces in that region. It also addresses broader state reforms and Lebanon’s relationship with Syria. Saudi Arabia, which has long championed a stronger Lebanese state, may be poised to urge Aoun privately to embrace the US proposals more fully.
Riyadh’s backing could prove instrumental in overcoming internal resistance to disarming Hezbollah and other armed groups.
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