Not only does this give official Lebanese status to an independent army that doesn't answer to the government, it also is clearly against UN resolution 1701, which called for "no weapons without the consent of the government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the government of Lebanon; and it also implicltly contradicts the paragraph that calls for "strong support for full respect for the Blue Line."He said the new statement will retain the same clause approved by the previous cabinet as concerns the arsenal of Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006 and is considered a terrorist organization by Washington.
Lebanon's new cabinet has agreed on a policy statement that acknowledges Hezbollah's right to use its weapons against Israel, despite disagreement by some members of the ruling majority.
Information Minister Tarek Mitri said late Wednesday after a cabinet committee set up to draft the statement met for the ninth time that an agreement had been reached.
The clause states the right of "Lebanon, its government, its people, its army and its resistance" to liberate all Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah is commonly referred to as the resistance in Lebanon.
Mitri said that reservations concerning the clause by members of the Western-backed majority would be noted in the government program.
Christian members of the majority, including the Phalange Party and Lebanese Forces, argue that Hezbollah's arsenal undermines state authority and runs counter to U.N. resolutions.
It is effectively the continuing surrender of Lebanon to Hezbollah.