WASHINGTON: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met US President Donald Trump to present a plan on how to disarm Hezbollah and secure Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon. Aoun, who served as the commander of Lebanon's US-backed army before being elected president last year, became the first Lebanese head of state in nearly 20 years to visit the White House when he met Trump face-to-face for the first time.
The meeting comes at a crucial moment for Lebanon. Israeli troops are occupying a swathe of the country's south and hundreds of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced following Israeli strikes. Hezbollah has firmly rejected the government's direct talks with Israel as well as efforts by the state to strip it of its arms. "It's been a very badly treated place and country, and we're going to have it properly treated and treated with respect that it deserves," Trump said as he met Aoun in the White House's Oval Office. "There's a Hezbollah problem."
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to maintain American support for his country's military, warning that southern Lebanon could see a return of the chaos of the 1970s without Washington's backing. "We don't want to see that back again. All we're asking is, keep supporting the LAF," Aoun told reporters of the Lebanese Armed Forces during a White House meeting with Trump on Tuesday. "All we're asking is, keep supporting the LAF... I fully trust the LAF. I fully trust the leadership of the LAF."
Hours ahead of Aoun's meeting with Trump, Lebanese army troops began taking control of territory vacated by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon - the first test of the plan. A Lebanese official said Aoun believes only Trump possesses the leverage needed to pressure Israel to withdraw its troops and help Lebanon restore its sovereignty. The official said that Aoun, in addition to asking the US president to press Israel to withdraw, would also present Trump with a written proposal on how to decommission Hezbollah's massive arsenal. "This will be your legacy," Aoun told Trump. "Together, we will be able to achieve this objective. It's about time for Lebanon and the whole region to be stable and secure." — AFP/Reuters
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