US official in Beirut to discuss border dispute with Israel

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri is receiving a US official as Washington mediates a maritime border dispute with Israel.

Acting Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield has begun a two-day visit to meet officials in Lebanon, which is in an economic crisis. He did not speak to journalists after his meeting with Hariri.

Satterfield’s visit comes a week after President Michel Aoun presented the US ambassador to Lebanon with a “unified stance” regarding the demarcation of the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel.

There are some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of waters claimed by the two countries, which are technically in a state of conflict. Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006.

— AP

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