US cancels Washington meetings with Lebanese army chief over remarks on Israel, sources say

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(Corrects commander’s last name to Haykal not Hachem throughout)

BEIRUT (Reuters) -The U.S. has cancelled meetings in Washington with Lebanese armed forces commander General Rudolf Haykal after objecting to a statement the army issued on Sunday about border tensions with Israel, Lebanese officials familiar with the matter said.

A Lebanese security official told Reuters the cancellations were “sudden and shocking” and prompted Haykal to call off the trip. Haykal had been due to arrive in Washington on Tuesday for meetings on military assistance and border-security cooperation.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Reuters that the United States cancelled the meetings with Haykal but did not offer a reason. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Washington is a key backer of Lebanon’s army, providing support of more than $3 billion over the last two decades in a policy aimed at supporting state institutions in a country where the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah has long held sway.

In Sunday’s statement, the army accused Israel of “insisting on violating Lebanese sovereignty, causing instability and obstructing the army’s deployment in the south”.

It condemned the “latest attack” on a UNIFIL peacekeeping patrol and said Israeli actions required “immediate action” from friendly states as they amounted to “a dangerous escalation”.

The Israeli military occupies five posts within Lebanon and frequently carries out airstrikes in the country’s south that it says are targeting Hezbollah militants.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire a year ago that required the Lebanese militant group not to have any weapons in the south and for Israeli forces to fully withdraw from Lebanon.

Under the terms of the truce brokered by the U.S. and France, Lebanon’s armed forces were to confiscate “all unauthorised arms”, beginning in the area south of the Litani River – the zone closest to Israel.

Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem has said the agreement only applies to the area south of the Litani.

Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rearm, while Lebanon’s government accuses Israel of violating the agreement by not withdrawing and continuing to carry out airstrikes.

U.S. Republican Senator Joni Ernst said she was “disappointed” in the Lebanese army’s position. “(They are) a strategic partner, and, as I discussed with the CHOD (army chief) in August, Israel has given Lebanon a real opportunity to free itself from Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists.

“Instead of seizing that opportunity and working together to disarm Hezbollah,” Ernst added, “the CHOD is shamefully directing blame at Israel.”

(Reporting by Laila Bassam, additional reporting by Phillip Stewart; writing by Tala Ramadan; editing by Mark Heinrich and Franklin Paul)