A meeting on Lebanon will be held in Paris next week with the commander of the Lebanese army and U.S. officials, as France and the United States push Beirut to speed up Hezbollah’s disarmament process, four sources familiar with the matter told AFP.
“Rodolphe Haykal is expected on Wednesday,” one of the sources said. U.S. Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus is also due to take part in the talks at the Elysée Palace, though her presence was “not yet confirmed” as of Friday, the three other sources noted.
A Saudi official may also attend the Paris discussions, one of the sources added. All spoke on condition of anonymity.
The meeting comes ahead of another round of talks scheduled in Beirut on December 19 by the ceasefire monitoring committee, which aims to avert “the specter of a second war” in Lebanon waged by Israel, according to President Joseph Aoun.
The committee includes Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and the United Nations.
Under the ceasefire deal, the Lebanese army must complete the dismantling of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in the south by December 31.
To accelerate the process, French and U.S. officials are pushing for a mechanism to monitor the disarmament.
Israel has stepped up strikes in recent weeks against strongholds of the Iran-backed group, accusing it of rearming.
French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Beirut on Monday and Tuesday, meeting senior Lebanese figures including Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
“The priority of his mission was to follow up on and strengthen the ceasefire monitoring mechanism, and to implement the Lebanese Armed Forces’ plan for Hezbollah’s disarmament,” French foreign ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said on Thursday.
France, which seeks to boost support for the Lebanese army, hopes Saudi Arabia will soon host a conference to reinforce its backing.
Comments