U.N.: Hezbollah threatens Lebanon’s security
Published: Thursday, April 24, 2008
16:00 GMT; 12:00 PM/EST
LEBANON-U.N.–IRAN
Washington, April 23 (IranVNC)—Hezbollah’s persistence to maintain a paramilitary capacity poses a threat to Lebanon’s security, United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon said in a report on Lebanon released this week.
The report, the seventh since Security Council Resolution 1559 was adopted in 2004, reiterated Ban’s views that a political dialogue should take place in order to guarantee a disbanding of Lebanese and non-Lebanese militia.
Ban added that Syria and Iran “bear a significant responsibility in supporting such a process, for the sake of Lebanon’s and the wider region’s security, stability and welfare.” Both countries maintain close ties with Hezbollah.
The U.N. chief also pointed to an incident in late March in which a U.N. patrol in Lebanon encountered “unidentified armed elements in its area of operation” in violation of the Council’s resolutions 1559 and 1701.
He did not specifically blame the Shiite group for the incident, but insisted that Hezbollah’s military capacity is a “threat to international peace and security.”
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Hezbollah accused the U.N. report of being biased and politicized and said that it needed to keep its arms to “resist the constant threat” posed by Israel.
But Lebanon’s Western-backed government contends that Hezbollah’s military capacity gives the group a monopoly on the decision to go to war and this ought to be in the hands of the Lebanese state alone.
The deadlock between Lebanon’s ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, and the Iranian- and Syrian-backed opposition has left the country without a president since November of last year – and the government unable to pass legislation since 2006.
Sources: Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Reuters
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