IRBIL: Lebanon’s army must be given the means to disarm militant group Hezbollah, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told AFP ahead of his expected arrival in Beirut on Friday.
“France’s vision for Lebanon is that of a strong, sovereign state holding a monopoly on arms,” he said.
“The first step to fulfil this mission is to give the Lebanese Armed Forces the means to continue the work of disarming Hezbollah,” added the minister, whose country will host a conference in support of the Lebanese army on March 5.
Hezbollah emerged weakened from its latest war with Israel, which ended in a November 2024 ceasefire agreement.
In line with the agreement, the Lebanese army announced in January that it had completed the first phase of a government plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border about thirty kilometers (20 miles) south.
“The Lebanese government has shouldered its responsibilities by launching and carrying through to completion the first phase of this disarmament plan,” Barrot said.
“The second phase must now begin, and the plan associated with this phase is to be presented in the coming days, and in any case before the conference is held,” he continued.
The second phase of the plan concerns the area between the Litani and the Awali rivers, around forty kilometers south of Beirut.
Hezbollah has thus far refused to hand over its weapons north of the Litani.
The French foreign minister is due to meet Lebanon’s top officials in Beirut on Friday, the final stop of a tour that has taken him to Syria and Iraq.