Report: Lebanon vows to disarm Hezbollah, US to give army helicopters

Lebanon’s top leaders Joseph Aoun, Nabih Berri and Nawaf Salam pledged to U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus that arms would be limited to the state’s hands and withdrawn from Hezbollah as an obligatory gateway for the state to extend its authority across its territory, presidential sources said.

“They told her that the exclusivity of arms has become indisputable, undebatable and settled and that only the timing remains for removing illegal weapons,” the sources told Saudi Arabia’s Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

“This is what the state has taken upon itself through its communication with Hezbollah to reach a program aimed at absorbing the weapons,” the sources added.

“The state’s preparations to devise a defense strategy does not mean that the removal of illegal arms will remain indefinitely pending,” the sources said.

The sources also revealed that “there is constant communication between the leaderships of the army and Hezbollah, with its agenda topped by preparing for the phase of the gradual absorption of Hezbollah’s arms on the basis of commitment to the implementation of 1701 as stipulated by the Taif Agreement, which enjoys support for Hezbollah in the vein of its backing of the resolution related to extending the state’s authority across its territory.”

“The two leaderships tackled the need to control the situation in the area north of the Litani River to strip Israel of the excuse of rocket launches that was behind the expansion of its airstrikes to include Beirut’s southern suburbs,” the sources added.

Ortagus meanwhile reassured Lebanese leaders that Washington will continue to support the Lebanese Army, revealing that the U.S. will provide the army with military helicopters once Congress approves the move, the sources said.