New U.S. Ambassador Wants Hizbullah Disarmed, New President Elected

The Unites States new ambassador to Lebanon has urged Syria to let the Lebanese choose their president and elect members of their parliament without external influence, asserting that Hizbullah should voluntarily lay down arms, As Safir reported on Wednesday.

"There is a presidential election in autumn and parliamentary elections the following spring in Lebanon. We like to see both operations reflecting the will of the people of Lebanon," Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman said in an interview with As Safir's Washington correspondent Hisham Milhem.

Feltman is due in Beirut Friday to replace Vincent Battle, who has already returned to Washington. Mrs. Feltman will later join her husband in Beirut after finishing certain academic assignments. "It will be the first time since the mid-1970s that an American ambassador will be living with his family in Beirut," Milhem noted.

"The time has come for Syria to allow Lebanon to choose its elected officials without foreign influence…. Lebanon deserves to exercise full sovereignty on its entire territory after many years since the civil war had ended," Feltman said.

He reiterated the U.S. concept that the Lebanese constitution must be respected, especially the provision that a new president ought to be elected every six years.

Feltman was asked whether the Bush administration would be pushing toward disarming Hizbullah so that it would operate only as a political organization. He was also asked whether such disarmament would be enough for the U.S. to deal with the Party of God.

"In order to accept Hizbullah as a lawful political partner in the region, it has to disarm and the Lebanese government has to establish its sovereignty on its territories. The Lebanese people are aware of the dangers of the existence of armed militias not subordinate to a central authority," Feltman said.