Prime Minister Nawaf Salam addressing the press after a Cabinet meeting dedicated to the issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut. (Credit: Lebanese Presidency/AFP)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam once again affirmed on Monday that the decision to entrust the Lebanese state with the exclusive authority over weapons has been made.
"The decision to monopolize weapons in the hands of the state has been made. Without this, there is neither security nor stability, and without security and stability, there is no investment or economic growth," he emphasized at the Rachid Karameh International Fair in Tripoli, which he was visiting.
His comments came as American envoys Tom Barrack and Morgan Ortagus paid a visit to Lebanese authorities on Monday. During his meeting with them, the head of government told them that the decisions to disarm Hezbollah and hand its weapons over to the Lebanese Army had been made in "the national interest."
It emphasized the priority of strengthening support for the army, "financially and materially," so that it can perform the missions entrusted to it. Salam also stressed the importance of renewing the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which, he said, plays a role in "consolidating stability" in the South and offering "support for the army to expand the authority of the state" south of the Litani River.
For its part, Hezbollah is stubbornly refusing to hand over its arsenal to the Lebanese Army as long as the Israeli army maintains a presence in southern Lebanon and the threat of civil war looms.
