Cabinet discusses Hezbollah disarmament file in key session

Cabinet began a highly-anticipated session at 3:00 pm Tuesday at the Baabda Palace, in the absence of Finance Minister Yassine Jaber of the Amal Movement and Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar of Hezbollah, who are both outside the country.

The session had the thorny issue of Hezbollah's disarmament as the first article on its agenda, but it was postponed to the end of the session as the meeting got underway. TV networks meanwhile said that there is an inclination to postpone the final decision on the clause related to arms to another cabinet session.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement had tried to postpone the discussion of the issue in Tuesday's session, media reports said.

The Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and the Progressive Socialist Party might accept that the issue be postponed to Thursday’s cabinet session, MTV reported.

MTV also said that Hebzollah had pressured Speaker Nabih Berri to remove the clause on arms from cabinet's agenda.

“There are contacts to contain street protests ahead of the cabinet session and the outcome seems to be positive,” MTV said. The army later prevented a small motorbike rally from leaving Beirut's southern suburbs toward the capital.

“The president believes that the arms article should not be removed from the agenda, but the exit could be beginning to discuss it in today’s session and continuing that in Thursday’s session,” the TV network added.

A senior official from the Shiite Duo had confirmed that the two parties would attend Tuesday’s cabinet session.

“We have never evaded responsibility. The ministers of Amal and Hezbollah will attend and through them we will discuss, talk, debate and say what we have to say. We are going to the cabinet session and we do not intend to clash with anyone or create a problem with anyone, unless some have other intentions, then that will be their problem,” the official told al-Liwaa newspaper.