US envoy to pressure army to expedite disarmament plan in Beirut visit

U.S. envoy Morgan Ortgus will pressure the Lebanese army command to accelerate the implementation of its plan to disarm Hezbollah north and south of the Litani River as she visits Lebanon this weekend, media reports said Friday.

Al-Binaa said that, according to sources, Ortgus will arrive Saturday in Lebanon to meet with the five-member ceasefire monitoring committee -- France, the U.S., Lebanon, Israel, and the UNIFIL -- over the disarmament plan and its implementation. She will not meet with Lebanese leaders and politicians, the daily said.

Ortagus will meet the committee on Sunday in Naqoura to review the army's plan and its implementation and will discuss with the army how to enhance its human, material, and logistical capabilities for it to implement the plan by the year end.

The United States had announced it would donate more than $117 million in security assistance for the Lebanese Army, as the crisis-hit country seeks to implement a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.