Hezbollah slams UN 'interference' in Lebanon
AFP
BEIRUT- Hezbollah on Friday slammed "interference" in Lebanese affairs by UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen and warned that its arsenal was off-limits after the diplomat accused militias of creating tension in Lebanon.
"Hezbollah condemns this attempt to create dissent and sedition among the Lebanese under the guise of advice and guidance," the Shiite militant party said in a statement.
UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen in 2008
On Thursday the UN envoy had warned of the need to address the presence in Lebanon of heavily armed militias, which he said was a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, adopted in 2004.
The resolution calls for "the disbanding and disarmament" of all militias in the country.
"As long as these unresolved issues are there, for instance the existence of heavily armed militias in Lebanon... there will always be tension," Roed-Larsen said after briefing the Security Council on a report on the implementation of Resolution 1559.
But the Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah warned that its arms were "only to be discussed among the Lebanese as part of a comprehensive national defence strategy, and neither Roed-Larsen nor any other officials, international or not, can interfere."
His briefing came shortly after Israel accused Syria of supplying Hezbollah with Scud missiles. Damascus has denied the charge.
The United States has also accused both Syria and Iran of supplying their Lebanese ally with sophisticated weaponry including missiles, but has stopped short of naming the Scuds.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about the risks of sparking a regional war if he supplied long-range Scud missiles to his Lebanese ally.
Hezbollah is the only Lebanese group that did not disarm after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, arguing that its weapons were necessary to fight Israel.
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