Reuters

BEIRUT: Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told Reuters on Saturday that the group considered Friday&rsquo;s cabinet session on an army plan to establish a state monopoly on arms &ldquo;an opportunity to return to wisdom and reason, preventing the country from slipping into the unknown&rdquo;. Lebanon&rsquo;s cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah. It said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities. But it said continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon would hamper the army&rsquo;s progress. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally approved the plan. Qmati told Reuters that Hezbollah had reached its assessment based on the government&rsquo;s declaration on Friday that further implementation of a U.S. roadmap on the matter was dependent on Israel&rsquo;s commitment. He said that without Israel halting strikes and withdrawing its troops from southern Lebanon, Lebanon&rsquo;s implementation of the plan should remain &ldquo;suspended until further notice.&rdquo; Lebanon&rsquo;s cabinet last month tasked the army with coming up with a plan that would establish a state monopoly on arms and approved a U.S. roadmap aimed at disarming Hezbollah in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon. Qmati said that Hezbollah &ldquo;unequivocally rejected&rdquo; those two decisions and expected the Lebanese government to draw up a national defense strategy. Israel last week signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the army took action to disarm Hezbollah. Meanwhile, it has continued its strikes, killing four people on Wednesday.

Middle East

Hezbollah views army’s disarmament plan cautiously, linking progress to Israeli ceasefire and troop withdrawal conditions

Articles tagged with "Lebanon army plan"

Hezbollah calls Lebanon army plan opportunity, urges Israeli ceasefire commitment