US envoy says satisfied with Lebanese response on disarming of Hezbollah

AFP | Beirut

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US envoy Thomas Barrack said yesterday he was satisfied by the response of Lebanon's authorities to a request to disarm Hezbollah, although warned Lebanon risked being left behind as change sweeps other countries in the region.

Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms, while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire.

Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon, with Lebanon's health ministry reporting one dead in a raid on a vehicle in the country's south on Monday.

Israel has warned it will continue to strike until Hezbollah has been disarmed, while the movement's leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats.