Haykal says army to perform 'sensitive missions' while preserving civil peace

Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal held an extraordinary meeting Friday with the army’s command and top officers to discuss “the developments that Lebanon and the army are going through amid the current extraordinary period, amid the Israeli enemy’s violations and attacks.”

“The army is shouldering great responsibilities on all levels, and it will face a delicate stage in which it will assume sensitive missions,” Haykal said, according to an army statement.

The army will “take the necessary steps for the success of its mission, while taking into consideration preserving civil peace and domestic stability,” he added.

The Army Command had earlier on Friday issued a statement stressing that it is “executing its missions with the highest levels of responsibility, professionalism and keenness on the country’s security and internal stability, in line with the political authority’s decisions and out of commitment to performing duties no matter the difficulties.”

The Command also called on media outlets “not to tackle the affairs of the military institution or launch speculations about its decisions,” urging them to “return to its official statements to obtain accurate information.”

The pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper had reported that Haykal had said that he “prefers to resign from the command of the military institution if there is someone who wants the blood of the Lebanese to be shed at the hands of the army.”

The daily added that the Army Command, the Intelligence Directorate and the chiefs of regions and regiments have expressed rejection of “devising an executive disarmament plan with a list of targets or a timetable.”

The Lebanese cabinet session scheduled for September 2 to discuss the army’s plan for disarming Hezbollah and the other armed groups will be held on time, a highly informed Lebanese source told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Thursday.

The source, however, did not rule out a brief postponement of the session should domestic complications arise.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday expressed frustration and said U.S. envoys Tom Barrack and Morgan Ortagus "brought nothing from Israel" and "came with something contrary to what they had promised us."

Ortagus said on Tuesday that Lebanese authorities must execute their decision to disarm Hezbollah, adding that Israel would respond in kind to any government steps.

On Monday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a phased pullout of troops from Lebanon if Beirut implements its decision to disarm Hezbollah -- part of a November ceasefire agreement brokered by Washington.

The Lebanese government's decision to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year was made under heavy U.S. pressure and amid fears of expanded military action by Israel, which has continued to carry out attacks in Lebanon despite the November ceasefire.

Hezbollah has meanwhile rejected the government’s decisions and said that it will deal with them as if they don’t exist.