WikiLeaks: Hariri Promised Feltman to Abolish Hizbullah

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has reportedly told former U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman that he would abolish Hizbullah once the Lebanese army is consolidated.

In a WikiLeaks cable published by al-Akhbar daily on Monday, Hariri told Feltman during a meeting in Qoreitem on August 20, 2006 that as long as the army is weaker than Hizbullah, then it should be in a less threatening position.

Hariri stressed to the former ambassador that the international community had kept the Lebanese military weak which made it become a Hizbullah subordinate.

The U.S. administration should consolidate Lebanese state institutions, particularly the army, he added.