Naharnet

Report: Biden Administration Views ‘Frustrating’ Lebanese File

Washington has reportedly reached a “serious” conviction that the Lebanese state is “completely suspended" and may be a step away from being a "failed state,” al-Arabiya television station reported on Saturday.

According to sources of al-Arabiya and al-Hadath in Washington, both inside and outside the U.S. administration, they said that Washington has no new policy towards Lebanon and has been showing the same commitment for many years.

But the Americans, like many countries, have reached a "serious" conviction that the Lebanese government is a "completely suspended" state and may be a step away from being a "failed state,” they said.

This conviction makes the U.S. efforts in Lebanon “desperate,” with the Americans’ prior understanding that what they want to do “will not be achieved.”

US Assistant Secretary David Hale recently visited Lebanon reportedly knowing that he holds an American position without any means of pressure on the Lebanese parties, and the position was limited to demanding the formation of a government capable of reform, said the station.

Hale said in Beirut during his visit that "those who continue to obstruct the progress of the reform agenda are risking their relationship with the United States and its partners and exposing themselves to punitive measures."

But according to al-Arabiya and al-Hadath sources in the US capital, they said the “Biden administration could postpone the policy of imposing sanctions.”

Source: Naharnet


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