France, Saudi Arabia, US step up talks on Lebanon as army support conference nears

Report by Bassam Abou Zeid, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian is set to begin a new round of talks in Beirut on Wednesday, amid growing diplomatic momentum to organize an international conference to support the Lebanese Army.

The discussions are expected to include a French-Saudi-American meeting, seen as an extension of the Paris gathering held on December 18, which focused on preparations for a donor conference to support the Lebanese military. The prospect of such a meeting was reinforced by reports that Saudi envoy Prince Yazid bin Farhan is also due to arrive in Lebanon this week.

Questions remain over who will represent the United States in the meetings. 

In Paris, Washington was represented by Morgan Ortagus. This time, sources say the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, is likely to take part if Ortagus does not attend.

French sources said that since the Paris meeting, the Lebanese Army has made tangible progress in implementing its plan to confine weapons to the state authority before the international community. 

As a result, preparations to support the army should be stepped up, not only by Washington, Paris, and Riyadh, but also by other countries. The sources stressed that the conference should be held regardless of timing or location, although the Paris meeting had proposed February as a tentative date.

According to the same sources, the primary objective of the conference is to meet the army's needs and enable it to implement the weapons control plan fully. 

However, LBCI sources indicate that a comprehensive plan to rearm the Lebanese Army with advanced weaponry has been postponed until after the completion of the weapons confinement process.

Washington and Riyadh are particularly emphasizing this position because any advanced weapons provided to the army before the dismantling of Hezbollah's military and security infrastructure and the conclusion of a security arrangement with Israel could, in the event of security unrest, fall into the hands of the group. U.S. officials, who are aligned with Israeli concerns on this issue, are keen to avoid such a scenario.