Lebanon parliament speaker calls for dialogue over Hezbollah weapons

BEIRUT (AFP): Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, an ally of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, called on Sunday for dialogue over its weapons, days before the government is expected to approve an army plan to disarm the group.

Months after Hezbollah’s devastating war with Israel and under heavy US pressure, Lebanon’s government this month tasked the army with drawing up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year.

Hezbollah strongly opposed the decision and Shiite ministers, including representatives from the group and Berri’s Amal Movement, withdrew from the last government session in protest.

“We reiterate that we are open to discussing the fate of those weapons… in a calm and consensual dialogue,” Berri, an influential Shiite leader, said in a speech commemorating the 1978 disappearance of Amal founder Musa Al-Sadr.

Lebanon’s ministers are set to meet again on Friday after receiving the army’s plan.

Berri criticized the government’s moves, which are based on a US proposal.

“What is proposed in the American paper goes beyond the principle of (a state) weapons monopoly, and rather appears as an alternative to the November ceasefire agreement,” he stated.

Hezbollah emerged heavily weakened from a devastating war with Israel that ended in a ceasefire signed in November.

Israel has kept up attacks in Lebanon despite the truce.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army said it carried out a strike on a site run by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported intense strikes in the area, where serious damage was recorded.

A later strike on a motorcycle killed one man, according to the NNA.

The agreement states that Hezbollah is to pull its fighters north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Israel.

Israel was to withdraw its troops from Lebanon but has kept them at five points it deems strategic, with Washington linking a full Israeli withdrawal with the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also suggested the two issues are linked.

Berri rejected holding a dialogue under “threats” that undermine the truce agreement.