The United States seeks a window for new pressure to break the impasse in Lebanon and calm the conflict world news

It is clear that the Lebanese people have an interest, a strong interest, in asserting themselves in the state and taking responsibility for the country and its future,” Blinken told reporters in Laos on Friday. “The presidency has been vacant for two years. , and it will be very important for the Lebanese people to have a head of state.

He said that the future of Lebanon is for its people to decide and not for anyone else, including any external actor, be it the United States, Israel or the many actors in the region.

The United States and others have been pushing for years to end Lebanon's political impasse, without success. The country's communal power-sharing system has always been subject to an impasse. The United States blames the two-year presidential vacuum on resistance to commitment by Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is considered a legitimate political party in Lebanon and has been part of its government for nearly two decades despite being designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. , Israel. and others

After former President Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, Lebanon's deeply divided parliament met several times to elect a successor and failed each time. Hezbollah has supported Suleiman Frangieh, a Christian politician allied with the Shiite group.

The opposition has suggested several names, but the man widely seen as Frangieh's main opponent, although he has not formally announced his candidacy, is Lebanese army commander General Joseph Aoun, who is generally seen as close to the US.

Meanwhile, growing political paralysis and the halt in measures to deal with a devastating economic crisis have plunged three quarters of the population into poverty.

But now, U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the current Biden administration's thinking, say Israel may have a window for movement, given the militant group's recent decline.

This view is not universally shared in Washington, with some officials arguing that Hezbollah has penetrated too much into Lebanon's political scene, its military and its influence on its civil and social services. Still, even skeptics are willing to try, officials said.

On the way home from Laos, Blinken spoke with Mikati and Berry to reiterate the importance of stabilizing the political crisis.

Blinken emphasized the US commitment to a diplomatic solution to implement the UN resolution, allowing civilians on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border to return to their homes, and the need to fill the presidential vacancy in a democratic way that reflects the will of the Lebanese People. For a stable, prosperous and independent Lebanon, the State Department said in almost identical statements.

The top US diplomat made the same point last week in talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Thani, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelati and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barot.

What I receive from these conversations is a strong desire, not only on the part of many countries concerned about Lebanon, but especially on the part of Lebanon itself, to really see the State stand up, assert itself, take responsibility for its life. Citizens, Blinken said earlier in Laos.

He is expected to attend an international conference in Lebanon hosted by France later this month, U.S. officials said.

The UN resolution, the terms of which were never fully implemented, called for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon after a month-long war with Hezbollah in 2006, while the Lebanese army and UN peacekeeping forces would have a exclusive armed presence in the area.

Ed Gabriel, president of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a nonprofit that works to strengthen U.S.-Lebanon relations, said the group has high regard for Aoun, the commander of the Lebanese army, and the leadership of the unique institution in full operation of Lebanon.

Gabriel said: “We do not think that external parties in Lebanon’s interests will weigh on the country’s sovereign right to elect its own president.” Members of the Lebanese parliament now have the opportunity to choose and elect a clean, competent and reform-oriented president who can form a government that can lead Lebanon to a dangerous but critical juncture.