The unusually direct US intervention in Lebanon's sectarian politics appears aimed at capitalizing on shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East, with Iran-backed Hezbollah badly pummelled from last year's war with Israel and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad ousted from power.
Like all of Lebanon's main factions, the armed group Hezbollah has long named ministers to government, in coordination with its Shi'ite ally the Amal Movement, which has picked all of Lebanon's finance ministers since 2014.
But US officials are keen to see that influence diminished as Lebanon's prime minister-designate Nawaf Salam forms a new cabinet, the five sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the press.
They said U.S. officials have passed on messages to Salam and to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun - who enjoyed U.S. support as army commander and was elected president in early January - that Hezbollah should not be included in the next cabinet.�REUTERS
The unusually direct US intervention in Lebanon's sectarian politics appears aimed at capitalizing on shifts in the power balance in Lebanon and the wider Middle East. U.S. officials have passed on messages to Salam and to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun - who enjoyed U.S. support as army commander and was elected president in early January - that Hezbollah should not be included in the next cabinet (Read more at Daily Observer).