U.N. Chief Urges Hizbullah to 'Halt Military Action'

W460

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly criticized Hizbullah for operating as the most heavily armed group and a political party in Lebanon and urged it to halt military activities inside and outside the country, including in Syria.

In a report to the Security Council obtained by The Associated Press, Guterres also called on Lebanon's government and armed forces "to take all measures necessary to prohibit Hizbullah and other armed groups from acquiring weapons and building paramilitary capacity" outside the authority of the state.

He said Hizbullah's military activity violates a 2004 Security Council resolution ordering all Lebanese militias to disarm and the Taif Accords that ended the country's 1975-90 civil war. In the semi-annual report on implementation of the 2004 resolution, the secretary-general said Hizbullah's engagement in the Syrian conflict also violates Lebanon's official policy of "disassociation," or neutrality in regional affairs.

Guterres said the report demonstrates Hizbullah's failure to disarm and "its refusal to be accountable" to state institutions that the U.N. resolution sought to strengthen.

"In a democratic state, it remains a fundamental anomaly that a political party maintains a militia that has no accountability to the democratic, governmental institutions of the state but has the power to take that state to war," he said.

Israel and Lebanon have been in a state of war for decades and do not have diplomatic relations. In the summer of 2006, Israel and Hizbullah fighters fought a monthlong war.

The border with Israel has remained mostly quiet since then, but Guterres said an alleged increase in Hizbullah's arsenal poses "a serious challenge" to the Lebanese government's ability to exercise authority and sovereignty over the entire country.

"I call upon countries in the region that maintain close ties with Hizbullah to encourage the transformation of the armed group into a solely civilian political party, and its disarmament," Guterres said.

He did not name Iran, a strong supporter of Hizbullah in Syria and elsewhere. Both are strong supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government.

Guterres said Hizbullah's military arsenal and involvement in Syria continue "to be denounced by a number of voices in Lebanon, who consider those issues to be destabilizing factors in the country and ones that undermine democracy."

In addition, he said, "many Lebanese see the continued presence of such arms as an implicit threat that those could be used within Lebanon for political reasons."

Hizbullah is considered a terrorist group by the United States, but its political wing has long held seats in Lebanon's parliament and was part of Lebanon's outgoing coalition government.

Parliamentary elections earlier this month were the first in Lebanon since war broke out in Syria in 2011 and Hizbullah made major gains. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah declared "mission accomplished."

Nonetheless, Lebanese analysts say the next Cabinet, like the outgoing one, will likely be a unity government that includes Hizbullah.

Comments 5
Thumb ashtah 23 May 2018, 10:22

Guterres also called on Lebanon's government and armed forces "to take all measures necessary to prohibit Hizbullah and other armed groups from acquiring weapons and building paramilitary capacity" outside the authority of the state.

Does he not know that our president has said hezbollah and the army are one and the same and that they complement each other?

Does he not know that we have Golden, Silver and Bronze Equations?

Does he not know that we as a nation are proud of our martyrs, weapons, massacres and we are ashamed of our Jury Award Prize in the Cannes Film Festival?

Please, Mr. Guterres, you need to learn more about history.

Thumb justin 23 May 2018, 10:40

He also needs to learn about our present:

When I saw this I was so upset as it shows how the Lebanese 'elite' behave and have no regard for the law. The woman in question (according to social media and twitter ) is an alleged FPM supporter and a friend of the daughter of a 'HIGH' ranking official ( possibly the president ). Just watch her attitude and her audacity and the way she insults the Airport Police.

تداول ناشطون عبر مواقع التواصل الإجتماعي مقطع فيديو تظهر فيه إمرأة ركنت سيارتها في وسط الطريق أمام مدخل مطار رفيق الحريري الدولي في بيروت، فاقترب عنصر القوى الأمنية طالبًا منها إزاحتها وركنها في الموقف المخصص للسيارات، فانهالت عليه بالشتائم والصراخ، فما كان منه إلا وتسطير محضر ضبط بحقها.
https://www.lebanese-forces.com/2018/05/23/lebanon-airport-4/

Thumb janoubi 23 May 2018, 11:16

Susan Al Hajj reincarnated.

Thumb ex-fpm 23 May 2018, 12:29

Don't let the fancy car fool you or her ability to speak English or French or her trendy clothes, she is and will always be a typical Lebanese: empty, pretentious, uncivilized, selfish and corrupt.

Thumb rolfmao. 23 May 2018, 16:51

He's urging the wrong gang, he should be addressing Iran.