Two Lebanese-American Officials demand blocking Hezbollah from Lebanese government

WASHINGTON, D.C. / BEIRUT —  In a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, the two Lebanese-American Members of US Congress Darin LaHood and Darrell Issa demanded to remove the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon from the Lebanese government. They wrote to President Trump, demanding that any assistance to Lebanon be conditional on reforms and, above all, the exclusion of Hezbollah and its allies from the government.

Sources reported to News Agency Reuters that U.S. officials have passed on messages to PM-elect Nawaf Salam and to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, a Syriac Maronite, that Hezbollah should not be included in the next cabinet.

Hezbollah has long been appointing government ministers, in coordination with its Shiite ally the Amal Movement, which has delivered all the Finance Ministers in Lebanon since 2014. Informed sources confirmed to Reuters that U.S. officials seek to diminish Hezbollah influence in Nawaf Salam’s new government.

Lahood and Issa are of Lebanese origin and head the US-Lebanon Friendship Caucus of the the House of Representatives. In their letter, the two congressmen clearly reject the detrimental policies of the past decades under Hezbollah, which is labeled a terrorist organization by many countries. Darin LaHood and Darrell Issa call on President Aoun to “liberate the country from the malign influence of Hezbollah.”

The election of President Joseph Aoun comes after a two-year unoccupied presidency. In Lebanon, the presidency is reserved for a Syriac Maronite.

Due to the severely weakened position of Hezbollah following Israeli military actions in the country, the political balance in the country is shifting. Aoun’s presidency came under heavy pressure from the US, France and the EU. Hezbollah itself has supported its pro-Syria ally Sleyman Franji for years.

The West is now mounting pressure behind the scenes to further weaken Hezbollah by threatening to withhold financial aid to the country, which is in dire economic straits, if key ministries are given to the “Party of God.”