Lebanon's president departs for Washington to meet Trump

BEIRUT, July 18: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Saturday left Beirut for Washington, where he is expected to meet Donald Trump, the Lebanese presidency said, after talks between Lebanon and Israel wrapped up in Italy.

It will be the first trip to Washington by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009.
Aoun will hold discussions "with several American officials on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire", particularly in Lebanon's south, as well as on "the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies", the presidency said.

Israel and Lebanon began US-sponsored negotiations in April aimed at reaching a peace deal and permanently ending the Israel-Hezbollah war.

On June 26, they reached a framework agreement in Washington under which the Israeli military is to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army is to deploy, starting with two "pilot zones".

The agreement is contingent on the disarmament of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which has flatly rejected the deal and the Israel-Lebanon negotiations. �"AFP