
FPM declares its support for Disarming Hezbollah
'The movement adopts a clear position affirming the inevitability of restricting weapons and their command to the state alone, with no partnership or involvement by anyone '.
He added : 'We reject internal strife and the isolation of any Lebanese component.'
He also emphasized the necessity of embracing any group that feels uneasy, whether internally or externally.
In a press conference, Bassil emphasized his 'rejection of the threat of weapons aimed at obstructing the arms control process,' and called for 'the adoption of a gradual solution to restrict weapons, based on the capabilities of the Lebanese Army, and to benefit from these weapons, not waste them.'
He explained that the government gained confidence based on its ministerial statement, which stipulates the exclusivity of arms, while executive measures remain its responsibility. It has begun to implement these measures, and based on this, Parliament will decide whether to withdraw confidence from it. Since it has not done so, the government, regardless of our position opposing it, continues to enjoy the confidence of Parliament.
The disarmament push followed last year's
war between Israel and Hezbollah
, which left the group, once a powerful political and military force, extremely weakened.
Bassil's comments come after the Lebanese cabinet met for the second time in days on Thursday as it discusses ways of disarming Hezbollah, a day after the Iran-backed militant group rejected the government's decision to take away its weapons.
Source Rl Nashra) , translated from Arabic
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


L'Orient-Le Jour
an hour ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Ankara, Damascus top diplomats warn Israel over Syria action
Turkey's foreign minister and his Syrian counterpart on Wednesday warned Israel not to stir up chaos in Syria and demanded an end to all external interventions aimed at destabilising the war-torn country. "Certain actors are bothered by the positive developments in Syria," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after talks with Syria's Asaad al-Shaibani in Ankara, referring to Israel and Kurdish YPG fighters operational in northeastern Syria. "Israel is currently one of the biggest actors in this dark picture," he said of its ongoing military incursions since the overthrow of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad late last year. "The emergence of chaos in Syria... appears to have become a priority for Israel's own national security," he said. Standing next to him, Shaibani also warned against efforts to foster chaos in Syria. "We're facing new challenges that are no less dangerous than those we encountered during the years of war, foremost among them are repeated Israeli threats... through airstrikes," he said. Fidan said efforts to destabilise Syria could be clearly seen in the March bloodshed in the coastal Alawite heartland of Latakia and in the recent deadly violence that gripped the southwestern Druze-majority province of Sweida, as well as in the Kurdish-dominated northeast. "The events in Latakia and Sweida and the failure to integrate the YPG [into the Syrian state] are evidence of the challenges and obstacles facing the positive process underway," he said. Shaibani said foreign actors were exacerbating the unrest within Syria. "We are also confronting multiple foreign interventions, both direct and indirect ... [that] push the country toward sectarian and regional strife," he said without giving details but warning against "any reckless attempts to exploit events here". During the war, Assad's government was backed by Russia, Iran and its Lebanon-based militant ally Hezbollah. Fidan said the YPG, part of the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led SDF but seen by Ankara as an extension of the PKK militant group, remained a concern over its refusal to integrate into the Syrian state despite a March agreement to do so. The PKK, which fought a decades-long insurgency against Ankara, is currently in the throes of disbanding as part of a peace agreement with the Turkish government. "We have not seen any developments that indicate the organisation has eliminated the threat of armed action," nor sent home the foreign fighters in its ranks, he said. "In an environment where Turkey's security demands remain unmet, we have no chance of remaining calm," he warned.


L'Orient-Le Jour
an hour ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Aoun receives NGO proposal to grant Lebanese women the right to pass citizenship
BEIRUT — President Joseph Aoun received a proposal on Wednesday from a delegation of the 'My Nationality is My Right and My Family's Right' campaign for a law granting Lebanese women who are married to non-Lebanese men the right to give Lebanese nationality to their children "within limits specified by the law." During the reception of the proposal at the Baabda Palace, which was announced on the presidency's official X account, the director of the campaign, Karima Chebbo, quoted by local news website al-Nashra, expressed hope that Aoun would assist in passing a draft law that would amend a nationality law dating from 1925, which prevents Lebanese women from passing on the Lebanese nationality to their children. According to Chebbo, the campaign began in Lebanon in 2003 and has since expanded to several Arab countries. The NGO is in coordination with a number of states, she explained, "to achieve justice and equality between men and women." The campaign "does not target anyone," she said, as quoted by al-Nashra, "but rather aims to ensure fairness for Lebanese mothers married to foreigners and reduce the negative social and familial consequences resulting from the law that has been in effect for the past 100 years." Despite decades of active campaigning, activists have never seen a breakthrough on this issue. There is no shortage of political pretexts, revolving mainly around "demographic" fears, supposedly linked to the fear of the settlement of Palestinians who have been refugees in Lebanon since 1948 and Syrians who fled the war in their country following its outbreak in 2011. For children born to Lebanese mothers and residing in Lebanon, this situation is a source of much suffering, as they continue to be considered foreigners.


L'Orient-Le Jour
an hour ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
After his forced departure from Beirut Water Office, Jean Gebran defends his record
The former director general of the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Office, Jean Gebran, who was dismissed from his position last week, spoke out on Wednesday in a statement about his sidelining the previous week. He stated that his management of the public office was "above reproach" and that the failures to meet citizens' needs were due to a "lack of resources." Last Wednesday, Energy and Water Minister Joe Saddi told L'Orient-Le Jour that "the senior official's term ended in 2021 and the measure is purely administrative." However, informed sources told the Al-Markazia agency that this dismissal was related to "his use of the institution to serve his electoral ambitions, after having announced his candidacy in the upcoming parliamentary elections under the banner of the Free Patriotic Movement [FPM] in Jbeil." The same sources specified that the decision was not an act of political retribution but a reform measure, pointing to "the flagrant use of services and hirings in Jbeil and Kesrouan as a form of political clientelism." Gebran is considered close to the Free Patriotic Movement, while Saddi is close to the Lebanese Forces (LF), the FPM's political rival on the Christian scene. Before Saddi's appointment, the Energy Ministry had been headed by Aounist ministers since 2008. In his statement, Gebran said he "expected thanks only from the faithful and the innocent, and not from officials incapable of distinguishing between development and politics." Dismissed from his position by the Parliament and placed at the disposal of Minister Saddi, he thanked "all those with whom I had the honor to work within this administration, especially during the most difficult periods." He further said, "I forgive all those who doubted me, openly or in secret, because I excuse them: They do not know the truth." Affirming that his management of the administration had been "irreproachable over the past seven years," he "apologized to the citizens whose needs I was unable to meet, not out of negligence on my part, but for lack of available resources." In recent years, the Lebanese public administration has suffered from repeated political crises, a presidential vacancy that lasted from October 2022 to January 2025, and economic collapse, which, due to the sharp depreciation of the national currency, has significantly eroded salaries. Water supply is regularly cut off or rationed in Beirut, often due to power outages preventing the operation of the Office's pumps.