UN's Gambari: Hizbullah is an obstacle to 1559
BEIRUT: United Nations Under Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari said it will be hard to fully implement Security Council Resolution 1559 as long as Hizbullah considers itself a "resistance."
"The UN is trying to fully implement Resolution 1559 which calls for the disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias but the problem is that Hizbullah considers itself a resistance," Gambari told the Egypt-based Middle East News Agency over the weekend.
Resolution 1559 is among the topics Lebanon's top political leaders have been discussing during their ongoing national dialogue.
"The United Nations praised Lebanon's national dialogue and all participants in these talks welcomed the organization's support," Gambari told the agency.
During the dialogue, the March 14 Forces have been aggressively lobbying for the ousting of President Emile Lahoud and the decommissioning of Hizbullah's weapons, while pro-Syrian parties relentlessly reject such demands.
But leaders will not start discussing Hizbullah's arms before the presidential issue, so far deadlocked, has been solved.
However, top politicians have succeeded in reaching a decision to establish diplomatic relations with Damascus, which Gambari deemed as crucial to solve all pending issues between the two neighboring countries.
"It is very necessary to start talks between Lebanon and Syria to solve a number of issues including setting up the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms, demarcating the borders and establishing diplomatic relations," Gambari said.
Gambari, who arrived in the region to attend the Arab summit held in Khartoum last week, was speaking from Egypt where he is holding talks with Arab League chief Amr Moussa and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Ghaith.
In Khartoum he met with Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora. He said their talks focused on the Arab support for the Syrian-Lebanese talks.
"We discussed the contributions of Arab countries mainly Saudi Arabia and Egypt to support the Lebanese-Syrian dialogue," said Gambari.
Gambari further added that the UN is helping Lebanon to re-establish its security and stability and uncover the truth behind the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
"The UN role in Lebanon is to support all national efforts exerted to re-establish the country's security and stability and uncover the truth behind Hariri's assassination as well as back formation of an international tribunal," Gambari said.
The political and security situation in Lebanon have deteriorated following Hariri's assassination with a string of bombs attacks on prominent politicians and journalists.
source: Daily Star
"The UN is trying to fully implement Resolution 1559 which calls for the disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias but the problem is that Hizbullah considers itself a resistance," Gambari told the Egypt-based Middle East News Agency over the weekend.
Resolution 1559 is among the topics Lebanon's top political leaders have been discussing during their ongoing national dialogue.
"The United Nations praised Lebanon's national dialogue and all participants in these talks welcomed the organization's support," Gambari told the agency.
During the dialogue, the March 14 Forces have been aggressively lobbying for the ousting of President Emile Lahoud and the decommissioning of Hizbullah's weapons, while pro-Syrian parties relentlessly reject such demands.
But leaders will not start discussing Hizbullah's arms before the presidential issue, so far deadlocked, has been solved.
However, top politicians have succeeded in reaching a decision to establish diplomatic relations with Damascus, which Gambari deemed as crucial to solve all pending issues between the two neighboring countries.
"It is very necessary to start talks between Lebanon and Syria to solve a number of issues including setting up the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms, demarcating the borders and establishing diplomatic relations," Gambari said.
Gambari, who arrived in the region to attend the Arab summit held in Khartoum last week, was speaking from Egypt where he is holding talks with Arab League chief Amr Moussa and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Ghaith.
In Khartoum he met with Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora. He said their talks focused on the Arab support for the Syrian-Lebanese talks.
"We discussed the contributions of Arab countries mainly Saudi Arabia and Egypt to support the Lebanese-Syrian dialogue," said Gambari.
Gambari further added that the UN is helping Lebanon to re-establish its security and stability and uncover the truth behind the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
"The UN role in Lebanon is to support all national efforts exerted to re-establish the country's security and stability and uncover the truth behind Hariri's assassination as well as back formation of an international tribunal," Gambari said.
The political and security situation in Lebanon have deteriorated following Hariri's assassination with a string of bombs attacks on prominent politicians and journalists.
source: Daily Star
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