MP Mohammad Sleiman receives American diplomat Logan Brog on Tuesday. (Credit: Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — A delegation from the United States Embassy in Lebanon met Tuesday with Future Movement MP Mohammad Sleiman as part of a series of visits that began last week with MPs of the party headed by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Hariri announced his retirement from political life on Jan. 24 ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15 and asked his party to do the same.
Here’s what we know:
• The US delegation, led by Logan Brog and adviser Fadi Hafez, met with Sleiman, who represents Akkar constituency in Parliament, at his home in Beirut and discussed the latest developments on the local scene and the general political situation, L’Orient Today’s North Lebanon correspondent reported.
• A US delegation had met last week with Future Movement MPs Walid Baarini, Tarek Merhebi and Hadi Hobeiche in their Akkar constituency in North Lebanon.
• “The Biden administration is concerned that Hariri’s withdrawal might allow Hezbollah’s allies to make inroads in areas where Hariri has popular support, hence strengthening further their parliamentary majority and control over the Lebanese government,” Joe Macaron, an analyst specializing in the Middle East, told L’Orient-Le Jour.
• Last Friday, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora announced that they would not boycott the upcoming elections, while former Prime Minister Tammam Salam said he would not run for a seat in Parliament this time.