EL KHIAM, Lebanon — US envoy Tom Barrack cut short a visit to southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to Lebanese state media, amid protests in two planned stops against US pressure to disarm Hezbollah.
The official National News Agency (NNA) reported that Barrack arrived by helicopter at a Lebanese army barracks in Marjayoun near the border, with soldiers deploying in the area.
The news agency later reported that the envoy had canceled planned stops in nearby Khiam, which was pummeled by Israel during its latest hostilities with Hezbollah, and in the coastal city of Tyre.
A spokesperson told AFP that the US embassy did not comment on officials’ schedules for security reasons.
An AFP correspondent in Khiam saw a group of residents, some waving Hezbollah flags or holding pictures of the terror group’s officials killed in the conflict, demonstrating against Barrack.
Some were standing on a Star of David that had been drawn on the road in blue, near the words in Arabic “America is the great Satan,” and “Barak is animal” written in English.
The last was a reference to comments by the US envoy at a Beirut press conference on Tuesday, which sparked an outcry in Lebanon.
Barrack told journalists during the press conference to “act civilized,” adding: “The moment that this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we’re gone.” The comments sparked outrage in Lebanon and an apology from the office of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
Bilal Kashmar, an official from the southern municipalities union, said dozens of people had demonstrated in Tyre on Wednesday against Barrack’s expected visit and Washington’s “biased policies.”
Under heavy US pressure and amid fears of expanded Israeli military action, Lebanon’s government tasked the army this month with drawing up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by year’s end. Barrack said at the press conference on Tuesday that Lebanon will come up with a plan by August 31 to convince Hezbollah to disarm, saying it would not necessarily involve military action, but rather persuasion.
The Iran-backed group, which enjoys strong support in the south, was left badly weakened by more than a year of hostilities, including two months of open war with Israel that largely ended with a November ceasefire. But Hezbollah has insisted that Israel must complete its withdrawal from Lebanon and halt its continuing strikes before the future of the group’s weapons can be discussed.
Last week, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem warned the Lebanese government against confronting the Iran-backed group, stating that there would be “no life” in Lebanon if it did.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Monday that Israel is “ready to support” Lebanon’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah and will implement a phased reduction of its military presence in Lebanon as a “reciprocal measure.”