{"id":29004,"date":"2019-01-13T22:22:54","date_gmt":"2019-01-13T22:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=29004"},"modified":"2019-01-13T22:22:54","modified_gmt":"2019-01-13T22:22:54","slug":"us-reiterates-concern-about-hezbollah-agenda-to-destabilize-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=29004","title":{"rendered":"US reiterates concern about Hezbollah agenda to destabilize region"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT: US officials are in Beirut holding talks with Lebanese officials about the growing threat posed by Hezbollah as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continues to tour the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\nDuring the visit, David Hale, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, will underscore US concerns about Hezbollah\u2019s destabilizing activities in Lebanon and the region, which include the recent discovery of Hezbollah\u2019s cross-border tunnels.<\/p>\n

\nThe tunnels \u201cdefy UN Security Council Resolution 1701, jeopardize the security of the Lebanese people and undermine the legitimacy of Lebanon\u2019s state institutions,\u201d the US Embassy in Lebanon said in a statement issued ahead of the meeting.<\/p>\n

\nHale\u2019s visit came ahead of the global summit that will take place in Poland on Feb. 13 and 14 \u201cto counter Tehran\u2019s regional influence,\u201d according to a statement made by Pompeo two days ago.<\/p>\n

\nPompeo announced on Twitter before embarking on his Middle East tour that he would send a clear message to US friends and partners that \u201cthe US is committed to the region, committed to defeat Daesh and committed to countering Iran\u2019s destabilizing activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nLebanon is not included in Pompeo\u2019s visit, which covers eight Arab countries and concludes on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\nThe US Embassy also said in its statement that Hale \u201cwill meet with senior Lebanese officials to discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe embassy also added that he \u201chas enduring ties with Lebanon and the Lebanese people after serving at the US Embassy in Beirut as a political officer, deputy chief of mission and ambassador over the span of 27 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cHe is returning to Lebanon in his new role to reaffirm strong US support for the Lebanese state, including its legitimate security institutions, as it continues to cope with significant challenges,\u201d the US Embassy added.<\/p>\n

\nShortly after arriving in Beirut, Hale, accompanied by US Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard, met with Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party.<\/p>\n

\nHale also met with Joseph Aoun, the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, who said that their discussion was focused on \u201cthe general situation in Lebanon and the region, as well as cooperation relations between the armies of the two countries, especially the amount of military assistance provided by the US to the Lebanese Army.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nDuring his visit to Lebanon, Hale will also meet with President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, and a number of political leaders with whom he was acquainted when he served as the US ambassador to Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\nHale\u2019s visit comes at a time when Lebanon is going through a very sensitive phase as a result of the eight-month disruption to the government\u2019s formation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nLebanese parties have accused Hezbollah militant group of being behind this disruption for reasons associated with Lebanon\u2019s regional stance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT: US officials are in Beirut holding talks with Lebanese officials about the growing threat posed by Hezbollah as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continues to tour the Middle East. During the visit, David Hale, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, will underscore US concerns about Hezbollah\u2019s destabilizing activities in Lebanon and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":29005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}