US Envoy to visit Lebanon next week with timeline for Hezbollah disarmament
U.S. envoy Thomas Barrack is currently holding consultations in New York and will visit Lebanon next week, local al-Joumhouria newspaper said Friday.
According to the daily, Israel has told Barrack that it expects Hezbollah to hand over its ballistic and hypersonic missiles before engaging in further discussions.
The new U.S. paper focused, according to the daily, on halting hostilities for a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Lebanese-Israeli conflict. It proposed a timeline for Hezbollah's disarmament.
The deadline for the government to announce its plan to disarm Hezbollah is August 1 and the the plan must be completely implemented before the end of November. After the complete disarmament of Hezbollah, the reconstruction of war-hit regions can begin, the daily said.
Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms, while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire. Israel has warned it will continue to strike until Hezbollah has been disarmed.
Barrack's visit next week would be his third. In previous visits the diplomat asked Lebanese leaders to formally commit to disarming Hezbollah and later said he was satisfied by the response of Lebanon's authorities to his request.
Source: Naharnet
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