Lebanese PM says US-backed framework with Israel sets stage for talks

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says the US-sponsored deal with Israel is intended to define the path of negotiations towards a lasting settlement but is not itself a treaty. “The phrase ‘framework agreement’ causes confusion,” local media quoted Salam as saying. “We are talking about a guiding framework for negotiations to define their path with the aim of reaching an agreement,” he said in an interview with Lebanon’s private broadcaster LBCI.