Aoun gives Karam directives for next stage

President Joseph Aoun was briefed Monday by the head of the Lebanese negotiating delegation, ex-ambassador Simon Karam, on the deliberations of the meetings that were held in Rome last week between the Lebanese, U.S. and Israeli delegations, the Presidency said.

The president provided Karam with his “directives for the next stage,” the Presidency added.

Israel refused in the talks to withdraw from more areas of south Lebanon unless the Lebanese Army achieves full control of an initial two "pilot zones."

A Lebanese source told AFP that the talks did not yield definitive results regarding the pilot zones.

While the outlook from Beirut was dim, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told AFP that the talks were "productive".

In June, Israel and Lebanon agreed a framework deal that involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese Army to the region, starting in two "pilot zones".

The Lebanese Army began deploying on July 21 to a southern village whose outskirts were controlled by the Israeli army and which was one of the first two "pilot zones". It has reinforced its presence in the second zone.

"Lebanon is keen to move on to new areas, whereas the Israeli side insists on verifying (the implementation in) the first two zones before proceeding to the next stage," the Lebanese source added.

The U.S. official said "the two sides are a lot closer on what needs to be done to advance and expand the pilot zone process."

The Lebanese source said agreement was reached on a "shortlist" of countries that might oversee the implementation.

An Israeli official said the plan's expansion was "not automatic" and would only grow if the Israeli government sees results.

"Since the pilot began only about two weeks ago, it is still too early to assess its performance. Therefore, at this stage, there is no immediate expectation that it will be expanded," the official said.

The pilot zone plan is the first test of the framework agreement.

Hezbollah has meanwhile repeatedly rejected the direct talks and refuses to surrender its weapons.