Top Lebanese military officials meet US counterparts, discuss Hezbollah disarmament
Top Lebanese military officials have been meeting their US counterparts in recent days as Beirut looks to shore up international support for the country’s military and state institutions.
Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) commander, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, visited the United States Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, on Monday.
The LAF has been at the forefront of the Lebanese state’s efforts, under President Joseph Aoun, to disarm Hezbollah and all other non-state groups in the country. This plan was devised at the request of Aoun and his cabinet following the election of a new government last year. It also came after Hezbollah was severely weakened during an Israeli campaign that took out the group’s top leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah.
“The LAF’s ongoing work to disarm non-state actors and reinforce national sovereignty as Lebanon’s security guarantor is more important than ever,” the US Embassy in Beirut said in a post on X with pictures of Haykal being welcomed to CENTCOM.
Haykal will head back to Washington this week for meetings with Trump administration officials. Among others, he will meet the Pentagon’s Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs, Daniel Zimmerman. Haykal will also meet with US lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Ahead of his visit to the United States, senior LAF officials traveled to Tampa last week to discuss progress on the Lebanese army’s plan to disarm Hezbollah, US Marine Corps Forces, Central Command (MARCENT) said in a statement.
The two-day bilateral security summit allowed LAF leaders to brief US military leadership on regional security matters, “including operational updates and progress toward the army’s disarmament plan.”
Lt. Gen. Joseph Clearfield, MARCENT commander and chairman of the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire mechanism, led discussions focused on military cooperation and the importance of the mechanism. “As MARCENT continues to play a central role in the Mechanism, these discussions with our partners will remain a critical part of our efforts,” Clearfield said. “We are committed to durable peace and stability in the region,” he added.
