Is Simon Karam Seeking to Set a Date for Negotiations?

"Al-Nidaa Al-Watan" newspaper learned that "recent contacts between Baabda and Washington may lead to setting the last week of October as the date for holding negotiations, which would have a security and military character, with the Lebanese delegation headed by former Ambassador Simon Karam and Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Mouawad, although the final date has not yet been decided."

In continuation of this diplomatic movement, informed sources told "Al-Nidaa Al-Watan" that "Ambassador Karam's visit to the Vatican does not fall, as rumored, within the framework of seeking to set a date or location for the negotiations, but rather comes in the context of consultation on the file and informing the Holy See of its developments. This communication gains additional importance from the existing relationship between Karam and the Apostolic Nuncio in Lebanon, Monsignor Paolo Borgia, at a time when the latter continues his movements and follow-up on Lebanese conditions, especially the repercussions of developments in the south on the steadfast Christian border towns and population, given what they represent as an essential element in preserving the identity of the south."