Abbas meets with Berri, Salam on second day of Lebanon tour

BEIRUT — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived to Beirut on Wednesday, continued his tour on Thursday and met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in the Grand Serail.

The Palestinian President's visit is focused on the issue of disarming Palestinian camps, as the Lebanese state aims to extend its authority over the entire national territory.

Abbas has not delivered any remarks after meeting Berri, while his meeting with Salam is still ongoing.

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The Lebanese authorities have committed to extending their arms monopoly over the whole territory since the cease-fire in November between Hezbollah and Israel, following over a year of hostilities, including two months of open conflict on the margins of the war in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Abbas met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the Baabda Presidential Palace. In a joint statement after the meeting, the two presidents affirmed that no weapons would remain outside the control of the Lebanese state.

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Geagea comments

Later on Thursday, the leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, released a statement in which he called the Lebanese Cabinet to set in its next meeting, "a clear timetable, not exceeding a few weeks, to take the necessary practical steps to collect Palestinian weapons inside and outside the camps and assume responsibility for the security of the camps and the surrounding Lebanese areas."

He commended that “Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the first Arab president to visit Lebanon under the new mandate" of Joseph Aoun.

"What is noteworthy this time is his crystal-clear position on the issue of Palestinian weapons in Lebanon, as he emphasized after he repeatedly done so in the past that there is no need for any Palestinian weapons in Lebanon, either inside or outside the camps, something that many Lebanese officials avoid stating so clearly and frankly, unfortunately" Geagea added.

For him, Abbas' statements “nullify the pretexts behind which the 'moumanaa' groups, both Lebanese and Palestinian, have been hiding to continue holding illegal weapons,” he added, referring to the parties and militias of the pro-Iranian axis.