Lebanese President Briefs Prime Minister on Results of Washington Visit and Meetings with Senior U.S. Officials

Beirut, July 24 (KUNA) -- Lebanese President Joseph Aoun briefed Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on the outcomes of his visit to the United States and the meetings he held with U.S. President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and on U.S. preparations to support the Lebanese Army. The Lebanese Presidential Office said in a statement that this briefing took place during President Aoun’s reception of Prime Minister Salam to discuss the general situation and recent developments, particularly Washington’s commitment to implementing the “Framework Agreement” reached to complete the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation up to the southern border. The statement added that Salam briefed President Aoun on his field visit to the town of Zoutar al-Gharbi (Western Zoutar) following the earlier withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the area earlier in the week, reaffirming the state’s resolve to secure the residents’ needs, consolidate their presence on their land, and preserve their livelihoods. The meeting also addressed Prime Minister Salam’s upcoming visit to Iraq to discuss strengthening bilateral ties with his Iraqi counterpart, Ali al-Zaidi. On the ground developments, the Lebanese National News Agency reported that residents of Western Zoutar began entering the town to inspect their homes, backed by the Lebanese Army, amid security and organizational measures to facilitate the return after an engineering battalion completed surveying the area and clearing mines and unexploded ordnance left by the occupation. These developments come within the framework of the operational understandings of the “Framework Agreement” signed between Lebanon and the Israeli occupation under U.S. sponsorship to end military confrontations, with the “Special Military Coordination Group for Lebanon” tasked with direct coordination among the parties to ensure the gradual withdrawal of the occupation and the extension of Lebanese state sovereignty through the deployment of the Lebanese Army in the southern areas. (End) F.Z. / A.M.S.