(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, JANUARY 18 . The Lebanese President, Michel
Suleiman, has promised efforts to help revive national dialogue
between different factions and political parties and to respect
UN resolutions, which among other elements, stipulate that all
militias other than the mainstream army must be disarmed,
including Hezbollah, the Shi'ite movement allied with Iran and
Syria and most powerful of all those active in the country.
"I underline my intention to continue efforts to bring about the conditions needed to resume dialogue between the various parties in order to protect the Lebanese people, as well as all efforts to organise a defence strategy for Lebanon," said the President, whose speech to accredited foreign ambassadors in Beirut, whom he welcomed for new year greetings, was quoted by the daily newspaper Daily Star.
Suleiman also underlined the continuing collaboration with Unifil, the intervention force stationed in the south of the country close to the border with Israel, which will be under Italian command from the end of January. "We hope that the strategic review ongoing between Unifil and the Lebanese army will lead to suggestions that may help the full application of the UN Security Council's resolution 1701, which Lebanon is committed to respecting," Suleiman said. One of the features of the resolution in question is the disarmament of militias. During a visit to Lebanon last week, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, said that he was "concerned" at the failure to disarm Hezbollah and urged the Beirut authorities to do everything in their power to make the Shi'ite militia turn its back on its arsenal, something that the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said that the militia has no intention of doing. (ANSAmed).
"I underline my intention to continue efforts to bring about the conditions needed to resume dialogue between the various parties in order to protect the Lebanese people, as well as all efforts to organise a defence strategy for Lebanon," said the President, whose speech to accredited foreign ambassadors in Beirut, whom he welcomed for new year greetings, was quoted by the daily newspaper Daily Star.
Suleiman also underlined the continuing collaboration with Unifil, the intervention force stationed in the south of the country close to the border with Israel, which will be under Italian command from the end of January. "We hope that the strategic review ongoing between Unifil and the Lebanese army will lead to suggestions that may help the full application of the UN Security Council's resolution 1701, which Lebanon is committed to respecting," Suleiman said. One of the features of the resolution in question is the disarmament of militias. During a visit to Lebanon last week, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, said that he was "concerned" at the failure to disarm Hezbollah and urged the Beirut authorities to do everything in their power to make the Shi'ite militia turn its back on its arsenal, something that the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said that the militia has no intention of doing. (ANSAmed).
