BEIRUT: US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield has held a new round of talks with Lebanese officials, regarding the negotiation mechanism between Lebanon and Israel on their land and maritime borders.

However, a Lebanese government source told Arab News that 鈥渢hings are still complicated.鈥�

Satterfield, currently in Beirut, met with Lebanon鈥檚 Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday.

The source said: 鈥淐omplications are not only limited to the negotiation鈥檚 time frame, but to every other detail, particularly the issue of setting the maritime border.

鈥淭he file of setting the land border, however, is not an issue, where there is an adopted and continuous negotiation mechanism,鈥� the source added.

In 2012, US meditation by former envoys Frederic Hof and Amos Hochstein acknowledged Lebanon鈥檚 right to 500 square kilometers of the disputed area along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Lebanon rejected Satterfield鈥檚 suggestion that Israel could invest oil wealth extracted from the area into a 360-sq km zone.

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis informed Aoun and Berri on Monday that the UN had agreed to sponsor and host negotiations at its regional headquarters in Naqoura. Berri鈥檚 press office said the meeting discussed the issue of land and maritime borders, while Hariri鈥檚 said the meeting 鈥渞eviewed the path of (Satterfield鈥檚) mission.鈥�

Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col, UN head of mission and force commander in Lebanon, chaired Monday鈥檚 tripartite military meeting in Naqoura between official representatives of the Lebanese and Israeli armed forces.

Discussions 鈥渇ocused on air and ground violations, the situation along the Blue Line, the issue of permanent violations including in the northern part of the village of GHajjar, as well as other issues within the scope of the UN Security Council.鈥�

Maj Gen. Del Col asserted that 鈥渢he Tripartite mechanism is a successful conduit in finding solutions and minimizing tensions, as it allows us all to take stock of current pressing issues and security concerns along the Blue Line, in an open and transparent manner.鈥�

Meetings in Naqoura have been regularly held under the auspices of the UN since the 2006 war in southern Lebanon, as an 鈥渆ssential conflict management and confidence building mechanism,鈥� according the UN鈥檚 media office.