Hezbollah and Iran want to drag Amal into a conflict it does not want: Gemayel

Kataeb Party leader Samy Gemayel accused Iran and Hezbollah of trying to "forcibly drag" the Amal Movement into a conflict "it does not want," as both Tehran and the party push back against the Lebanese government’s decision to disarm Amal.

At the start of August, the government tasked the Lebanese Army with developing a plan to disarm Hezbollah and restore the state’s monopoly on weapons, following the latest war with Israel. Hezbollah rejects the measure as long as Israeli forces remain in south Lebanon and continue their near-daily attacks.

"It is clear that Iran is trying to forcibly drag the Amal Movement into the conflict," Gemayel said in an interview with the Kuwaiti daily al-Siyassa published Tuesday. "Although Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri spoke clearly about the exclusivity of arms, Hezbollah and the Iranian envoy [Ali Larijani, who visited Beirut last week] reaffirmed their alliance with Amal and rejected disarmament."

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"The ball is in the Shiite community’s court"

Gemayel said there is "no other choice but to hand over the weapons, either by putting pressure on Iran or by letting the Lebanese state assume its responsibilities." He added that "about 90 percent of Parliament supports weapons being exclusively in the army’s hands. It is not permissible for 10 percent of MPs to hold Parliament hostage."

"Hezbollah’s weapons have not protected Lebanon, but instead attracted war, since the country is now under Israeli occupation," Gemayel said. "There is no country in the world where resistance exists alongside the army. It is time for a change of approach and for weapons to be exclusively under the Lebanese Army’s control, as is the case everywhere else."

According to him, Hezbollah and Amal must realize "some are dragging them into wars against Israel, at times against the Lebanese interior, or even against each other. It is time to say to that camp: enough is enough."

For Gemayel, the solution "lies within the Shiite community, which must free itself from Iran’s grip and its desire to drag it into more violence."

Gemayel said he is awaiting the army’s plan but cautioned that "things will not be easy as long as the Shiite community has not risen up against Tehran’s diktat." He also accused Iran of damaging Lebanon’s ties with the Gulf by backing Hezbollah and enabling drug smuggling to GCC countries.

"Our goal today is to restore these relations, and this is what the current authority, led by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, is doing. They are accomplishing remarkable work and making very courageous decisions," he said. "Our Arab friends are called upon to stand by us during this period so we can bring Lebanon back into the Arab fold."

Gemayel : Le Hezbollah et l’Iran veulent entraîner le mouvement Amal dans un conflit qu'il ne veut pas