Soueid: Prisoner exchange cancels out half Hezbollah’s reasons for keeping its weapons
March 14 General Coordinator former MP Fares Soueid told the Voice of Lebanon radio station that the government’s plan of action will be based on references such as the Taif Agreement, UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the Doha Agreement, and it will also follow “the spirit of President Michel Sleiman’s inaugural speech.”
“Dialogue, as agreed on in Doha, will be aimed at discussing the defense strategy and Hezbollah’s weapons. Half of the pretexts justifying Hezbollah’s weapons have been removed with the release of the detainees,” Soueid said, adding that the release of Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails is a victory to all Lebanese.
“I remind Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that he has recognized that the negotiations over the swap deal were based on UNSCR 1701, which was generated by the Siniora government.”
Soueid noted that if Syria recognizes Lebanese sovereignty, turns away from Tehran and becomes a modern Arab state, relations between the countries will improve.