PSP chief: We handed over all our remaining arm. 'Only the state can protect us all.'
In his speech at the annual central dinner of the Progressive Youth Organization, he noted that 'our position on the issue of weapons is clear. We started with ourselves and handed over the weapons that were still available.' He explained that 'we handed them over out of the conviction that the state alone can protect us all.'
He explained that 'Lebanon is also still in an economic crisis, and reform remains essential to overcome it, particularly for the younger generation, so that they can find opportunities in the country and stop migration.' He emphasized that 'the state must be established, and the state project is achieved through justice and political and social security. In order to continue on this path and achieve success, we need those who are up to the responsibility and willing to work and give.'
Under UN resolutions 1701 on which the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was agreed all militia in Lebanon should be disarmed. 'Jumblatt's decision to hand over all PSP's remaining arms should be considered as a wake up call to Hezbollah to do the same, one analyst told Ya Libnan.
Like all the other militias in Lebanon PSP handed all its arms to the Lebanese army at the end of the 1975-90 civil war , but after Hezbollah attacked the Druze stronghold of Mount Lebanon in 2008 it forced PSP and other communities in Mount Lebanon to rearm themselves for self defense .
File :
Masked Hezbollah fighters as they march through a suburb of Beirut in May 2008 , when the party occupied a large section of Beirut . and tried but failed to occupy Mount Lebanon. The move forced PSP to rearm in self defense. Many Hezbollah fighters were killed during the failed attack on Mount Lebanon
The Iran backed Hezbollah was the only militia that refused to hand over its arms in 1990.
Lebanon faces Existential Threat if Hezbollah not disarmed
US Special Envoy Tom Barrack warned, in an interview with the Emirati newspaper The National, that Lebanon risks falling into the hands of regional powers unless Beirut moves to resolve the issue of Hezbollah's arms
He pointed out that 'Lebanon needs to resolve this issue, otherwise it could face an existential threat,' adding, 'Israel on one side, Iran on the other, and now Syria is emerging very quickly. If Lebanon doesn't act, it will return to the Levant.'
Ya Libnan / El Nashra
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