Report: Aoun, Berri, Salam agree on state's monopoly on arms

President Joseph Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam unanimously agree on the need for the state to be the sole bearer of arms in the country, without “any provocation resulting from the use of the term disarmament,” political sources said.

“This is a mission that President Joseph Aoun will assume and will coordinate its phases with Speaker Nabih Berri, who is considered Hezbollah’s “big brother,” and based on this brotherly relation between Berri and Hezbollah the Speaker will have to explore Hezbollah’s viewpoint on the issue of arms,” the sources told Al-Jadeed TV.

Shiite Duo sources meanwhile told the TV network that “Hezbollah is not against the exclusivity of arms in the hands of the state” and that “it agrees with President Joseph Aoun on three principles.”

“The first is that the resistance is not a militia and that its right is enshrined in international laws, the ministerial statements and the Taif Agreement, which disarmed militias and did not disarm the resistance when it was implemented,” the sources said.

“The second principle is that the resistance is committed to the ceasefire and to keeping the area south of the Litani River free of arms, and accordingly Hezbollah has been cooperating with the army throughout the entire past period and is in constant coordination with it in the handover of its arms in the area south of the river,” the sources added, noting that U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus “has been put in the picture of this cooperation.”

The sources added that the third principle is that “the resistance’s arms should be approached as part of a national strategy” and that “this strategy comes after the liberation of the five hills and the captives, after curbing the Israeli enemy’s expansion of the buffer zone and after Israel’s commitment to halt the aggression against Lebanon.”

The Shiite Duo sources added that “it is totally baseless that Speaker Berri is exploring Hezbollah’s stance as to committing to deadlines related to the handover of weapons.”