BEIRUT: Lebanon will not find stability as long as Hezbollah is strong enough to act with impunity and enforce its will, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale said Thursday.
Hale’s remarks came in a speech he gave at the American Lebanese Chamber of Commerce on the threat of ISIS.
“But we all know defeating [ISIS] alone will not restore stability to Lebanon. We all know there are underlying problems,” Hale said. “High on the list of risks is the continued ability of one militia, Hezbollah, to bear arms and act with impunity.”
“So long as that is the case, stability will be absent, and growth impeded,” he added.
Hale said that only national dialogue and the adherence to the Baabda Declaration of 2012, which stipulated Lebanon’s disassociation from the war in Syria, could pave the way for Lebanon’s stability. But until then, Hezbollah’s power remains one of the main obstacles, he said.
Until that dialogue advances, and its principles are not just agreed to but adhered to, the risks to this country’s stability will remain very real, Hale said.
“The security institutions of the state should have the capability, and sole legitimacy to defend Lebanon’s territory,” he added.
“For they alone – and not a militia – are accountable to the people.”
He said decisions of war and peace directly affect every Lebanese citizen, and should thus be made by a constitutional government that is accountable to the people, and not by “a militia accountable to a foreign government.”
No comments:
Post a Comment