by JNS Staff
“There is no state without exclusive control of weapons,” Nawaf Salam said regarding the plan to disarm the Iranian-backed terror group.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denounced on Friday Hezbollah’s warning that disarming the Shi’ite terrorist group could instigate a civil war in the country.
The Lebanese premier branded remarks made earlier in the day by Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem as “misleading” and “propaganda directed at Hezbollah’s supporters,” according to the Saudi-owned, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, as part of an interview to be published in full on Sunday.
The Hezbollah leader said during a religious ceremony in the-Shi’ite majority city of Baalbek, situated in northeastern Lebanon, that disarming his Iranian-backed group is “unacceptable,” according to Arab News.
“We live in dignity together, and we build its sovereignty together—or Lebanon will have no life if you stand on the other side and try to confront us and eliminate us,” Qassem was quoted as saying in a speech.
Salam, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, said, “No Lebanese today—not just the wise among them, but all Lebanese, young and old, men and women, in the south or the north—wants to return to civil war. This direct or indirect threat of civil war is shameful. No Lebanese wants to go back to that.”
He criticized Qassem’s accusation that the Lebanese government was acting on behalf of “American-Israeli orders.
“This government is a national Lebanese government. It makes its decisions through the Cabinet and is not subject to external dictates but to the demands of the Lebanese people. I believe the overwhelming majority of Lebanese support the government’s decision to implement a plan to restrict weapons to the state. I have no doubt about that,” Salam said.
He continued, “It is a shame to claim this government is acting under dictates. I do not want to enter into disputes, but I know who is truly subject to dictates, who listens to them, and who has considered himself an extension of external powers,” in a reference to Hezbollah and Iran.
“No one in this government considers themselves an extension of any foreign side,” the Lebanese prime minister said.
Salam went on to lash out against Qassem’s framing of a state monopoly on force as unusual.
“There is no state without exclusive control of weapons. There cannot be two, three, four or five decision-making centers,” he said.
“Sheikh Naim speaks as though the government is introducing something unprecedented. The issue of exclusive weapons under state authority has been raised since the Taif Accord, which he himself recalled. At Taif, we all agreed to extend the state’s authority over all Lebanese territory.”
The 1989 Taif Agreement was cemented in Saudi Arabia to end the 15-year Lebanese Civil War in the attempt to reassert Lebanese authority in the country, which was undermined by Syrian forces.
“No one should say this is what U.S. envoy Tom Barrack or French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian want, or that it is the result of foreign dictates. This has always been a Lebanese demand, delayed for 10, 20, 30 years. The time has come,” Salam told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He noted that stability in Lebanon is a precondition to attract investment for reconstruction. “This will not happen unless people feel safe. That requires exclusive control of weapons by the state,” the Lebanese prime minister said.
Backlash to Qassem’s speech
In his speech in Baalbek, Hezbollah’s leader thanked Iran for “supporting us with money, weapons, capabilities, and media and political positions,” Arab News reported.
“There is still room for discussion, for adjustments, and for a political resolution before the situation escalates to a confrontation no one wants,” Qassem said.
But, he warned, if disarmament is imposed on the terrorist group, “we are ready, and we have no other choice. … At that point, there will be a protest in the street, all across Lebanon, that will reach the American embassy.”
Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar reiterated on Friday the firm stance of the prime minister, telling Arab News that “the party outside the legitimacy that refuses to surrender its weapons to the state bears responsibility” for any clash with Lebanon’s armed forces.
“Hezbollah wants to take us down to a destructive path,” he warned.
A slew of Lebanese ministers, lawmakers and political leaders joined the condemnations of Hezbollah’s bellicose rhetoric, Arab News reported, with parliamentarian George Okais of the Christian-based Lebanese Forces party stressing that November’s ceasefire agreement with Israel was approved by the entire Cabinet, including ministers from Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, another Shi’ite terrorist group.
Phased disarming of Hezbollah
The United States has presented Lebanon with a phased proposal aimed at disarming Hezbollah terrorists and ending Israel’s military operations in the country, Reuters reported last week.
The plan by envoy Barrack, which was discussed at a Lebanese Cabinet meeting on Aug. 7, calls for Hezbollah to be stripped of its weapons by the end of the year.
On Nov. 26, Jerusalem and Beirut reached a deal aimed at ending more than a year of cross-border clashes between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah. The terrorist group began attacking the Jewish state in support of Hamas following its terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
JNS Staff
Source: https://www.jns.org/lebanese-pm-condemns-hezbollah-threat-of-civil-war/
No comments:
Post a Comment