After Washington talks, Salam turns to three key files at home

Report by Bassam Abou Zeid, English adaptation by Mariella Succar

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has been at the center of political activity in Lebanon in recent days following his return from the United States, where he attended meetings on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and held talks with U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Since returning to Beirut, Salam has briefed President Joseph Aoun on his U.S. visit, toured the southern city of Nabatieh and is set to meet Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday.

Sources told LBCI that the prime minister is pursuing three main tracks.

The first is strengthening the state’s presence in southern Lebanon at the social, military and security levels.

As part of that effort, Salam traveled to Nabatieh and informed Berri that the government is determined to improve public services in the south, while the Lebanese army is expected to assume responsibility for military and security matters.

According to the sources, there are also plans to establish a crisis cell to address living conditions more broadly, with one of its tasks being to examine the possibility of suspending certain taxes.

The second track centers on dialogue with Hezbollah.

According to sources close to Salam, the prime minister, following similar efforts by Aoun, is seeking to open direct bilateral talks with Hezbollah rather than convene a broader national dialogue. The discussions would focus on Hezbollah’s weapons and the framework agreement.

The question is whether Salam can make progress on this front, whether his efforts are being coordinated with Aoun and whether Berri could play a role in facilitating the process.

In this context, Salam’s remarks in an interview with NBN, in which he said he does not want Lebanon to enter what he described as an “Oslo process,” could be seen as a message to Hezbollah that he does not want negotiations simply for the sake of negotiating.

The third track involves efforts to establish the verification mechanism stipulated in the framework agreement.

Salam’s talks with Rubio indicated that U.S. efforts on the issue are continuing and that Jordan could play a key role in such a mechanism, although no final decision has been reached. Salam has publicly called for a credible verification mechanism to monitor implementation of the framework agreement.

According to the sources, the Lebanese side is also preparing a written proposal outlining arrangements for the period following the end of UNIFIL’s mission. The proposal is expected to be presented in the coming days to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas during her visit to Lebanon.