Rubio hails Lebanon for peace efforts after meeting president

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington on July 19, praising the country for its “move towards peace” after the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks.

It was the first trip to the US capital by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009.

Aoun and Rubio held talks at the State Department, and Lebanese officials said Aoun is due to meet with President Donald Trump on July 21.

Rubio commended the Lebanese government for its “determined effort to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and move towards peace,” the State Department said following the talks.

Israel and Lebanon – which do not have formal diplomatic relations – began US-sponsored negotiations in April aimed at reaching a peace deal and permanently ending the Israel-Hezbollah war.

On June 26, they reached a framework agreement in Washington under which the Israeli military is to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army is to deploy, starting with two “pilot zones.”

But the agreement is contingent on the disarmament of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which has flatly rejected both the deal and the Israel-Lebanon negotiations that underpin it.

Following the latest round of talks last week in Rome, Israel and Lebanon agreed on the structure and guidelines for implementing the pilot zones, according to the United States.

Rubio said Washington was committed “to supporting the successful implementation of the Trilateral Framework and to backing the Government of Lebanon’s efforts to deliver peace, economic recovery, and a better future for the Lebanese people.”

Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2, when it began striking Israel in support of its backer Iran.

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion, and despite a ceasefire it continues sporadic attacks and holds territory in the south in what it describes as a “security zone.”

While in Washington, Aoun planned talks “on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire” as well as on “the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies,” his office said earlier.

The United States carried out airstrikes on July 19 to “punish” Iran after the first US military deaths since open hostilities rekindled the Middle East war. AFP