Negotiations to focus on the implementation of the withdrawal plan in the pilot zone in Rome, Lebanon

On 15 July, Israel and Lebanon began the sixth round of negotiations at local time 14 in Rome, Italy. The current round of negotiations lasted two days, and the first day of talks ended that night in Israeli time. This was the first meeting between the two countries since the signing of the Agreed Framework in Washington, D.C., last month. It was informed that the current negotiations focused on a pilot plan to discuss a concrete implementation programme for the first withdrawals from two pilot areas in southern Lebanon. According to the plan, the Government of Lebanon will enter the areas vacated by Israeli forces to ensure that they are free of Lebanese Hizbullah weapons. Earlier this week, a United States military delegation met with senior Lebanese military officials in Beirut and held an earlier discussion on the implementation of the withdrawal programme. The Israeli Foreign Minister, Sal, stated in the afternoon of 14 that he was ready to move forward with the implementation of the two pilot regions and hoped that the current round of discussions in Rome would move the process forward. (In Russian)