Govt. likely to approve arms monopoly decision on Tuesday

The Lebanese government will likely approve Tuesday the article on monopolizing arms in the state’s hands, sources told Sky News Arabia on Friday.

“The Lebanese government will task the Higher Defense Council with pressing on with measures to implement the government’s decision after the Army Command presents a plan,” the sources added.

Ministerial sources also told Al-Jadeed TV that "discussions are underway on a proposal suggesting that the government adopt the principle of arms monopoly before referring it to the Higher Defense Council to specify the executive mechanism."

President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that Lebanon is determined to disarm Hezbollah, a step it has come under heavy U.S. pressure to take, with the Iran-backed group insisting that doing so would serve Israeli goals.

In a key speech marking Army Day on Thursday, Aoun said Lebanon was demanding "the extension of the Lebanese state's authority over all its territory, the removal of weapons from all armed groups including Hezbollah and their handover to the Lebanese Army."

He added it was every politician's duty "to seize this historic opportunity and push without hesitation towards affirming the army and security forces' monopoly on weapons over all Lebanese territory... in order to regain the world's confidence."

On Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem had said that "anyone calling today for the surrender of weapons, whether internally or externally, on the Arab or the international stage, is serving the Israeli project."

He accused U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, who has visited Lebanon several times in recent months for talks with senior officials, of using "intimidation and threats" with the aim of "aiding Israel."

Lebanon has proposed modifications to "ideas" submitted by the United States on Hezbollah's disarmament, Aoun added, and a plan would be discussed at a cabinet meeting Tuesday to "establish a timetable for implementation."

Aoun also demanded the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the release of Lebanese prisoners and "an immediate cessation of Israeli hostilities."