French ambassador: Time has come for state to monopolize arms

French Ambassador to Lebanon Hervé Magro has stressed that "the current stage requires a fundamental internal step, namely the restoration of the Lebanese state's monopoly on the use of force."

In an interview with An-Nahar newspaper, distributed by the French Embassy in Beirut, he added: "The time has come to implement this principle, in line with the stances of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam."

The French ambassador declined to engage in detailed discussions about arms containment or disarmament, considering that "these are sovereign decisions that belong solely to the Lebanese, while France's role is limited to support and monitoring."

Regarding the possibility of a new Israeli war on Lebanon, he said: "Nothing is inevitable in politics, and war is not an unavoidable fate, even if the ability to avoid it is not always guaranteed. However, the alternative to the political process is a vicious cycle of successive conflicts, as recent years in the region have demonstrated."

On the issue of supporting the Lebanese Army and the Paris conference scheduled for March 5, he said: "Were it not for the American and Saudi commitment, the conference date would not have been set in the first place."

He explained that "the conference aims to coordinate international support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, both to meet their immediate needs and to support them in the long term, especially in light of talk about a transitional phase that may witness changes in the role of UNIFIL."