UNITED NATIONS, Oct 24: UN chief Ban Ki-moon is appealing to all Lebanese parties to stop re-arming and conducting military training in the face of worsening political tension, according to a report released on Wednesday.

“It is disconcerting to observe that most political parties in Lebanon are apparently preparing for the possible deterioration of the situation,” he noted.

“I repeat my urgent call on all Lebanese parties to immediately halt all efforts to rearm and engage in weapons training and to instead return to dialogue and conciliation as the only viable method of settling issues and resolving the ongoing political crisis,” he added.

Ban made the comments in his latest report on implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, passed in 2004, which calls for the disarming and disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias as well as the restoration of Lebanon’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence.

Monday, Lebanon’s parliament speaker again postponed until Nov 12 a special session to elect a president to give the divided country’s feuding political factions time to agree on a consensus candidate.

The fresh delay was widely expected as rival factions have so far been unable to agree on a consensus candidate, raising fears the country could plunge into its most serious political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

In his report, Ban said: “Rearmament and military training directly contravenes” resolution 1559 and noted that since the text was adopted in 2004 “Lebanon has continued to suffer setbacks in its struggle to reassert, beyond dispute, its sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence.” He also described as “deeply disconcerting” information suggesting that Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Shiite movement “has rebuilt and increased its military capacity compared to prior to” its 34-day war with Israel in south Lebanon last year.

Calling on all parties, including Hezbollah, to commit to the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon, he restated his conviction “that the eventual disarmament of Hezbollah in the sense of the completion of its transformation into a solely political party” is of critical importance.

In this respect he called for “the unequivocal cooperation of all relevant regional parties who have the ability to support such a process,” citing specifically Syria and Iran. Regarding the postponed presidential election, Ban said: “There must not be a constitutional void at the level of the presidency, not two rivalling governments.”—AFP