Report: Karam's mission suspended pending US solution for south

The U.S.-led Mechanism committee will meet Wednesday in Ras al-Naqoura for the first time since December 19, al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

It quoted informed sources as saying that the meeting will be limited to military personnel in the vein of the previous meeting.

“The U.S. and Israel do not want a resumption of the participation of civilian representatives from Lebanon and Israel in the current form of negotiations on which Lebanon is insisting,” the sources said.

“The mission of Lebanese negotiator Simon Karam has been suspended during this period, pending the crystallization of the details of a settlement that Washington is working on for the situation in the south,” the sources added.

The sources also said that Wednesday’s Mechanism meeting is expected to be merely a formality that will not lead to a drastic change in the Lebanese arena.

The U.S. Embassy had recently announced that the Mechanism would meet in February, March and April.