'Safe weapons-free city': MPs convene to back demilitarization of Beirut
Lebanon said Thursday it is "not aware" of any upcoming contact with Israel, after U.S. President Donald Trump said the leaders of Lebanon and Israel would speak on Thursday.
In Lebanon, those negotiations have drawn backlash from Hezbollah and its supporters. Al Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper that is closely allied with Hezbollah, declared the government to be a "regime of shame" in its front-page report about Tuesday's talks in Washington.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah castigated Lebanese authorities for what he called the "disgraceful image" of direct negotiations with Israel "at a time when it is killing Lebanese people and committing massacres."
He urged the government, which has long sought the disarmament of Hezbollah to no avail, to hold a popular referendum on the future of Hezbollah's arsenal rather than decide its fate in talks with Israel.
"We are ready for a referendum on these choices," Fadlallah told reporters, saying he expected the results of any such vote to show that a majority of Lebanese people support Hezbollah's militant activities.
On the streets of Beirut, Lebanese were divided. Some agreed with Hezbollah that Israel can only be stopped through military force. Others welcomed the talks in Washington as a possible step toward ending the war.
On Thursday, Beirut MPs convened at the Phoenicia Hotel in Beirut as Lebanon grapples with both internal political shifts and external military pressure. The MPs backed a government's decision to make Beirut a weapons-free zone. They stressed that the capital should remain a safe, state-controlled city, and that all non-state arms like those of Hezbollah should be removed.
Source: Naharnet, Associated Press
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