Lebanon ‘far from’ normalising relations with Israel, prime minister says

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaking to journalists on Wednesday (Bilal Hussein/AP)

Lebanon’s prime minister said his country was “far from” diplomatic normalisation or economic relations with Israel, despite a move towards direct negotiations between the two countries aimed at defusing tensions.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s comments to a small group of journalists in Beirut came in contradiction to a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel would send an envoy to talks with Lebanese diplomatic and economic officials, which he described as an “initial attempt to create a basis for relations and economic co-operation” between the two countries.