Lebanon to participate in scheduled talks with Israel in Rome

A Lebanese official source told AFP on Saturday that Lebanon will participate in talks scheduled for next week with Israel in Rome, as a U.S. military delegation is holding discussions in Lebanon to examine the mechanisms for implementing an Israeli withdrawal from a “pilot” zone in the south of the country.

The source said that “Lebanon will participate,” following a report on Wednesday by a diplomatic source close to the negotiations, who told AFP that Lebanon had made Israel’s withdrawal from two pilot areas in the south a precondition for agreeing to take part in a new round of talks.