US to warn Lebanon to get tougher on Hezbollah to unlock Gulf cash, sources say
US to warn Lebanon to get tougher on Hezbollah to unlock Gulf cash, sources say
Lebanon's hopes for a Gulf cash infusion with a new government are fading fast, as US embraces a 'squeeze into confrontation' approach
US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus is expected to arrive in Beirut on Friday for meetings with Aoun and other Lebanese officials.
There, she will raise concerns that the Lebanese army is "backsliding" against disarming Hezbollah, one current US official and two former US and Arab officials told MEE.
But at the top of the Lebanese officials' agenda will be asking the US why reconstruction funding from Saudi Arabia that was promised earlier this year has not materialised.
MEE revealed in January that the US dangled the promise of Saudi cash to Lebanese lawmakers to ensure Aoun, Lebanon’s former commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, was elected president. Since then, Saudi Arabia has brushed off Lebanon’s appeals for cash.