FPM welcomes Barrack's statements on Lebanon's response to US proposal

BEIRUT — The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), led by Gebran Bassil, has welcomed the statements of American envoy Tom Barrack, who expressed being "satisfied and grateful" with the Lebanese response to an American roadmap laying out, among other things, the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Arriving in Beirut Monday morning, the U.S. envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey met with President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. While his last visit saw him rather firm on the point of Hezbollah disarming before November, on Monday, Barrack came out saying Lebanon was not bound to adhere to "any timeline" presented by the U.S., and that Washington was "only trying to help," marking a significant softening in tone.

In a statement, FPM expressed "its support for peaceful efforts to resolve the issue of Israeli occupation and aggression against Lebanon and the matter of exclusive possession of arms by the state," adding that it "welcomed the words" of Barrack, following his meeting with the president.

'The current dynamic is an opportunity to find a solution for arms outside the state," the party stated, calling on Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah representatives to "seize the opportunity to liberate the land, the hostages and resources, to carry out the promised financial reforms, and to find a definitive and swift solution to the Syrian and Palestinian refugee crisis."

"Everyone has the responsibility to engage seriously in the process of re-establishing peace and prosperity in Lebanon, which requires exceptional national consciousness, not deadly populism and incitement, in order to arrive at an outcome that ends the suffering of Lebanese people and turns the page on decades of oppression, violence, and destruction."