It”s Difficult to Take Weapons out of Hizbullah
U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said disarmament of any organization throughout the world is "very difficult, so how, rather, with Hizbullah, which is a strong and well-organized party."
"It”s difficult to take the weapons out of politics. It needs to be done. It needs to be a Lebanese-led process," Williams told reporters after a closed-door briefing to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday.
He said southern Lebanon and northern Israel have experienced their longest period of stability in many years despite the violations of a 2006 cease-fire during the recent war in Gaza.
The cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah militants "continues to hold" but much remains to be done to fully implement Security Council resolution 1701 that ended their 34-day conflict, including disarming Hezbollah and all other militias, Williams added.
In a report to the council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the firing of rockets from southern Lebanon toward Israel during the Gaza conflict as "serious violations" of the cease-fire resolution. The fact that Israel returned fire without prior warning to U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon is also "a cause of serious concern," he said.
"On the positive side, the resolution has continued to ensure a cessation of hostilities between the parties and the longest period of stability that south Lebanon has known in decades," he said. "There is stability on Israel”s northern border which it has not known since the 1980s."
In other positive developments, Williams said the internal political situation in Lebanon in the run-up to June 7 general elections "remains good."
He also pointed to the establishment of diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Syria, and moves toward Arab reconciliation "which I think have an enormously positive effect on the situation on the ground in Lebanon."
Williams, however, said "there are many other issues in 1701 where very little progress has been achieved."
The resolution reiterates a call for the disarming of all militias in Lebanon, bans arms transfers to any group except the Lebanese armed forces, and urges the Lebanese government to secure its borders to prevent arms smuggling.
Williams believed that Lebanese national dialogue under President Michel Suleiman "has had enormously beneficial effect on the country in enhancing national stability, but where the question of the disarmament of armed groups is making only slow process."
He expressed hope that the government elected in June can move the issue forward.