US envoy Tom Barrack in Beirut for Hezbollah disarmament talks
On his second visit to Lebanon in two weeks, Mr Barrack is meeting with President Joseph Aoun followed by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
The US and Lebanon continue to exchange 'ideas' on a proposal that would ultimately lead to the disarmament of Hezbollah, with all weapons then coming under the control of the Lebanese state. Lebanon is also pushing for Israel to halt its daily attacks on the country and withdraw from the five strategic points in south Lebanon that it occupies.
Hezbollah's Secretary General Naim Qassem has accused Mr Barrack of seeking to encourage the Lebanese army to disarm the group by force and provoke a civil war.
He also struck a hard line over the weapons issue, arguing that Israel would expand its territorial control over parts of Lebanon without Hezbollah. 'We will not surrender or give up to Israel; Israel will not take our weapons away from us,' Mr Qassem said in a video speech at a commemoration for a senior Hezbollah commander killed in the war last year.
In his previous visit, Mr Barrack, who is special envoy for Syria and US ambassador to Turkey, said he was satisfied with Lebanon's response to Washington's plan for the disarmament of Hezbollah. But he also insisted that Lebanon must not be left behind in a rapidly changing region.
In their response to the US proposal, Lebanese authorities submitted a seven-page document calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from disputed territory, including Shebaa Farms, and reaffirming state control over all weapons while pledging to dismantle Hezbollah's arms in south Lebanon.
In a recent interview with The National, Mr Barrack said time was of the essence. 'I honestly think that they are going to say, 'the world will pass us by'. Why? You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn't move, it's going to be Bilad Al Sham again,' he said, using the historical name for the Greater Syria region.
That comment by Mr Barrack was widely interpreted as suggesting Lebanon risks being swallowed up into a Greater Syria, but the envoy later said he was merely trying to praise 'Syria's impressive strides".
'I can assure that Syria's leaders only want coexistence and mutual prosperity with Lebanon, and the United States is committed to supporting that relationship between two equal and sovereign neighbours enjoying peace and prosperity,' he said on X.
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