UN: Iran and Syria must support changing Hezbollah to political party
Beirut (AsiaNews) - UN secretary Ban Ki-moon wants Syria and Iran to support the transformation of Hezbollah from an armed group into a political party. The statement was made yesterday by the United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen.
Roed-Larsen says that the secretary general of the UN is particularly concerned about the clashes that took place last May between supporters and opponents of the government, which saw massive intervention by Hezbollah militants. This violence "may have prompted, if not accelerated, a process of rearmament in Lebanon." It is "a shocking illustration of how armed groups outside the control of the government of Lebanon brought the country to a near state of collapse, and engraved psychological scars on the civilian population." And there has been "no tangible progress towards the disbanding and disarming of militias."
In a report to the security council on the implementation of UN resolutions on Lebanon, Roed-Larsen did point to signs of progress in the last six months: the election of the country's president, the preparation of parliamentary elections, and the establishment of diplomatic relations between Beirut and Damascus. Nevertheless, there is still concern over the permeability of the Lebanese border, through which contraband and militants pass, and the violation of its airspace by the Israelis, an activity that must cease.
As for Hezbollah, in the words of the UN envoy, this has "a massive paramilitary infrastructure separate from the state, including a secure network of communication, which the group itself deems an integral part of its arsenal." "In May of this year, Hizbullah employed civil disobedience but also elements of these military assets to protect this very structure. These assets, and Hizbullah's resort to armed action in response to a political decision by the government, are a direct challenge to the fundamental authority of that government and its attempts to consolidate its sovereignty." This has led to the request for Hezbollah to transform itself into "a political party proper," with the hope that Iran and Syria will encourage this process.
Roed-Larsen is also concerned that the Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias in the country have not been disarmed, while it is the conviction of the UN secretary that the disarmament of all armed groups "should take place through a political process that will lead to the monopoly on the use of force by the government of Lebanon throughout all of its territory."
.png)
