US reportedly promises to press Netanyahu on ceasefire, Aoun seeks Berri cover
Lebanon responded positively to the US administration's request for a talks' preparatory meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors after receiving a pledge from the U.S. to pressure Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire, a Lebanese ministerial source said.
The source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that Tuesday's meeting would discuss "a single item on its agenda, limited to reaching a truce; without which it is impossible to move to the second phase of launching direct negotiations between the two countries under U.S. auspices."
The source affirmed that President Joseph Aoun "will not deviate one iota from his initiative to invite Israel to direct negotiations, but only on the basis of its prior agreement to a truce."
"This is what he conveyed to Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Mouawad and said to the U.S. administration, which promised to pressure Netanyahu for this purpose," the source added.
The source said that "Aoun spoke at length last Friday night with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, and they agreed that negotiations remain suspended unless preceded by a ceasefire."
The source noted Berri's satisfaction with what he heard from Aoun regarding linking direct negotiations to a ceasefire encompassing the South, not just Beirut and its southern suburbs.
In response to a question, the source confirmed that "obligating Israel to a truce increases communication between Aoun and Berri to prepare the ground for the start of negotiations with a Lebanese delegation headed by former Ambassador Simon Karam."
The source said that Berri had "expressed his understanding of the call for negotiations and had never previously registered his objection to the initiative launched in this regard."
The source added that it is necessary to respond to Berri's precondition of a ceasefire as "an entry point for a positive engagement with Aoun's invitation, especially since he did not attack it, unlike his ally Hezbollah."
The source emphasized that "it is impossible to begin negotiations without Shiite backing commensurate with the political presence enjoyed by the Amal Movement which is headed by Berri."
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