US pressure to amend Lebanese laws criminalizing dealing with Israel

Parliamentary sources confirmed that a meeting took place at the US Embassy in Beirut with Ambassador Michel Issa, in which he directly raised the necessity of amending Lebanese laws that criminalize dealing with Israel, hinting that his administration would soon activate its contacts to exert certain pressures to pass these laws, which Washington considers important for progress in the negotiations, if Parliament does not carry out its role. There was also clear US reproach over the judicial path taken by the complaint against Ambassador Nada Moawad before the Public Prosecutor of Cassation; Issa expressed his annoyance and said it was unwise to accept the complaint at all, questioning the contradiction between what happened and Lebanon's engagement in the negotiations, after the Military Court shelved the file for lack of a proven criminal offense.