Salam says adding civilian figure to Mechanism is not 'peace negotiations'
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced Wednesday that Lebanon is “ready for supra-military negotiations with Israel,” after Lebanon and Israel for the first time sent civilian figures to a meeting of the ‘Mechanism’ ceasefire committee.
“The move to include a former Lebanese diplomat on the committee is politically sound and enjoys national support,” Salam said in remarks to Al-Jazeera television.
Israeli PM Benjamin “Netanyahu went too far in describing our move to include a former Lebanese diplomat on the committee,” Salam added, after Netanyahu announced that he had “instructed the Acting Director of the National Security Council to send a representative on his behalf to a meeting with government-economic elements in Lebanon.”
“This is an initial attempt to establish a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon,” Netanyahu added.
Salam, however, clarified: “We are not engaged in peace negotiations with Israel, and normalization is linked to the peace process” between Arabs and Israel.
As for the reports about a possible new Israeli war on Lebanon, Salam said: “We have received Israeli messages about a possible escalation, but it is not tied to any specific timeframe.”
“The assessment of the envoys who visited Beirut is that the situation is dangerous and could escalate,” he added.
“Hezbollah must surrender its weapons, and this is one of the most important aspects of its participation in the state-building project,” Salam said.
He reiterated that Hezbollah's weapons “have not deterred Israel nor protected Lebanon,” and that “the state has regained the decision-making power regarding war and peace.”
“We will not allow adventures that lead us to a new war, and lessons must be learned from the experience of supporting Gaza,” Salam went on to say.
Source: Naharnet
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