US envoy Thomas Barrack said Monday he was satisfied by the response of Lebanon's authorities to a request to disarm Hezbollah, although warned Lebanon risked being left behind as change sweeps other countries in the region.

Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms, while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire.

Israel has warned it will continue to strike until Hezbollah has been disarmed, while the movement's leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats.

"I'm unbelievably satisfied with the response," Barrack, Washington's ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, told a press conference after meeting President Joseph Aoun.

"It's thoughtful, it's considered. We're creating a go-forward plan," he said.

"Now what it takes is a... thrust to the details, which we're going to do. We're........

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