BEIRUT: Lebanon will present a plan on Sunday aimed at persuading Hezbollah to disarm, with Israel expected to submit a corresponding framework for its military withdrawal, top US envoy Thomas Barrack said on Tuesday.
Speaking after talks with President Joseph Aoun in Beirut, Barrack said the Lebanese proposal would not involve military coercion but would focus on efforts to encourage Hezbollah to surrender its weapons — including addressing the economic impact on fighters funded by Iran.
“The Lebanese army and government are not talking about going to war. They are talking about how to convince Hezbollah to give up those arms,” Barrack said.
A move this month by the Lebanese cabinet to task the army with drawing up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms has outraged heavily armed Hezbollah, which says such calls only serve Israel.
Israel signalled on Monday it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if Lebanon’s armed forces took action to disarm the Iran-backed Shiite militant group.
