Beirut to host U.S.-Lebanon peace talks with Israel

U.S. Special Representative for the Middle East Tom Barrack will discuss with the Lebanese leadership a roadmap for resolving the conflict with Israel.

According to the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, the U.S. envoy, who has already arrived in Beirut, will hold talks on Monday with the President of the Republic Joseph Aoun, the Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

The roadmap provides for the disarmament of the Shiite movement Hezbollah.

The government of the republic, which approved on August 5 a plan to transfer weapons from Hezbollah to the Lebanese army by the end of this year, expects that the U.S. envoy will obtain concessions from Israel in exchange, which will begin a phased withdrawal of its forces from five occupied areas in southern Lebanon.