The United States has approached tribal and family leaders in Lebanon's Bekaa and Akkar regions seeking public positions critical of Hezbollah, but tribal figures say they will only engage if Washington secures Israeli withdrawal from the south.
American officials have made direct contact with tribal and family leaders in the Bekaa and Akkar regions bordering Syria, seeking to encourage public political positions that criticize Hezbollah's policies and their effects on Shia communities and local economies, according to information disclosed by a media editor with contacts among tribal leadership.
Previous outreach included financial offers ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 dollars monthly as a salary to encourage positions against the Shia alliance, though circumstances at the time prevented implementation, the editor said.
Tribal references from Baalbek-Hermel denied any recent contact of this kind with Arab tribes in those areas or in Akkar and northern Lebanon.
Tribal leaders said they remain willing to meet with Americans, even without Shia alliance approval, but only on condition that Washington commit to securing Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, halt Israeli attacks, and support a general amnesty law. Under those conditions, they said there would be no obstacle to strengthening relations with the United States.
Should American receptiveness follow on these conditions, a joint delegation of tribes could visit the American embassy in Awkar without coordination with Hezbollah or Amal, the editor indicated.
Arab Lebanese tribes support international resolutions, deployment of the Lebanese army south of the Litani River, and weapons exclusively in state hands, he said, adding that they reject Syrian interference in domestic affairs and seek only brotherly relations with Syria. Tribal leadership said they are exhausted by parties that have brought only misery and neglect, and what they now seek is stability, state presence in peripheral towns and villages, and access to basic services, education, healthcare and infrastructure.
