The new US ambassador will not take over the Lebanese file… and ambiguity surrounds Barrack’s role!

The article deals with the ongoing debate about the President’s statements regarding indirect negotiations with Israel, stressing that these negotiations are already taking place, and the current goal is to accelerate them in line with regional developments. Sources clarify that the dialogue revolves around the negotiation mechanism and not the principle of the initiative itself.

The talk of His Excellency the President, General Joseph Aoun, regarding indirect negotiations with Israel, is still the subject of widespread controversy and extensive discussion among various political forces. In this context, informed sources believe that this issue has been given more importance than it deserves, noting that indirect negotiations with Israel are already taking place, and that what is happening today is nothing more than an acceleration of those negotiations.

The sources draw attention to the fact that there is no objection to the President’s initiative, but rather that the current dialogue focuses on the mechanism for implementing these negotiations, whether through the existing “mechanism” or according to the mechanism that was followed in demarcating the maritime borders. The sources also point out the inaccuracy of information talking about President Aoun receiving an offer from Washington in this regard.

The sources explain that a type of security negotiation is currently taking place within the framework of the “mechanism” supervised by Morgan Ortagus. It affirms that indirect negotiations were previously adopted in demarcating the maritime borders, and that the goal of re-introducing them today is to accelerate the steps in line with the current stage and the major settlements that the region is witnessing, especially since time, according to the sources, is running out for Lebanon.

Regarding the possibility of American intervention to accelerate these steps with the arrival of the new ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, the sources downplay the importance of the role that the new ambassador will play, considering that he does not enjoy the diplomatic importance that the Lebanese media gives him, as if he will undergo a training course in Lebanon on how to manage files. The sources confirm that the new ambassador is not the one who will take over the file, but rather that Ortagus is still clinging to part of it through her supervision of the “mechanism”.

As for the role of Thomas Barrack, the sources admit that his role is shrouded in ambiguity, sometimes being active in the Lebanese file and other times being far from it, which means that there is a missing link regarding the Lebanese file and Barrack’s role in it.