Salam says disarmament necessary to attract investments
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said his government is not just working on disarming Hezbollah but is also working on reforms, yet disarmament is needed to attract investments.
In a televised interview aired on Sunday evening, Salam said the government is also unanimously committed to the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, ending the Israeli occupation and daily attacks, and releasing the Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails.
"This government is different from its predecessors," Salam said, claiming that his government is competent and that past governments had paralyzed the country.
"The government launched a comprehensive reform workshop from day one, but it is not enough to refresh the economy and attract investments," he said, adding that a sense of security and stability is needed and that this can only been done through the implementation of the state's monopoly on arms.
"If enforcing the law is stubbornness, then yes, I am stubborn, and I will not yield to the threats of civil war," Salam said.
Despite the November 2024 ceasefire agreement that ended the latest war, Israel maintains troops in five areas in southern Lebanon and has kept up strikes.
Since the ceasefire, the United States has increased pressure on Lebanese authorities to disarm Hezbollah.
In August, the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise a disarmament plan. Since then, the army has briefed the government twice on the plan but the discussions were kept secret.
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said the government's decision might lead to civil war.
Source: Naharnet
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