WASHINGTON, Aug 15: Lebanon is responsible for the disarmament of the Hezbollah militia, the top US diplomat on the Middle East said on Tuesday, and the United States is ‘ready to help’.
“We believe that the best protection for Lebanon and its people is offered by a fully sovereign government that controls all that goes on within the country,” David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, said at a news conference.
“The existence of a state within the state, an armed political party that acts outside the rules, is unacceptable to the international community,” he said, a day after a fragile UN-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect after more than a month of fighting.
“At the end of the day, it is Lebanon that is responsible for determining its own future in this regard,” Welch said.
“We stand ready to help,” he said, asserting: “There is no country that is more supportive of the interest of the Lebanese people than the United States. And I believe that Lebanon can and will emerge stronger from these events. As it does so, the United States will be working side by side.”
On Friday, the UN Security Councils unanimously adopted Resolution 1701 to end the conflict. The resolution called for a ceasefire and an increase in the multinational UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to 15,000 troops from its current level of 1,990, as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah.—AFP
