Bassil says supports state, presidency against any 'militia'

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil said his party supports the state against any "militia", as President Joseph Aoun renewed his appeal for Hezbollah to lay down its weapons.

"We have never been and we will never be a militia," Bassil said Sunday, adding that his party supports the state, the Lebanese army, the presidency, and all constitutional and legitimate institutions against any militia. "When the state fails, when the militias win, we go back to war," he said in a speech marking the anniversary of the outbreak of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The FPM was against the election of President Aoun and withheld confidence from PM Nawaf Salam's government. In its ministerial statement, the government also said that the Lebanese state should be the sole bearer of arms.

Bassil called Sunday for reforms, distancing Lebanon from regional conflicts, and protecting it. "Resisting the occupation is a right but it is necessary to build a state that protects the country," he said.

A source close to Hezbollah had said that most military sites belonging to the group in southern Lebanon have been placed under Lebanese Army control.

A November 27 ceasefire that ended more than a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war, stipulated that only United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanon's army should be deployed in the south.

The deal required Hezbollah to dismantle its remaining military infrastructure in the south and move its fighters north of the Litani River.