Lebanons army will begin implementing a plan to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah, Information Minister Paul Morcos said on Friday. The decision came after a cabinet meeting that approved the move but kept the details of the army's plan "secret", according to Morcos.
Lebanon's cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarmHezbollahand said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities.
A national divide over Hezbollah's disarmament has taken centre stage in Lebanon sincelast year's devastating warwithIsrael, which upended a power balance long dominated by theIran-backed Shiite Muslim group.
The US andSaudi Arabia, along with Hezbollah's primarily Christian andSunniopponents in Lebanon, have ramped up calls for the group to give up arms.
But Hezbollah has pushed back, saying it would be a serious misstep to even discuss disarmament while Israel continues its air strikes on Lebanon and occupies swaths of territory in the south. Four people were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday.
Read moreHezbollah leader accuses govt of handing Lebanon to Israel with disarmament plan
On Friday, Lebanon's cabinet met for three hours, which included the plan's presentation by army commander Rodolphe Haykal.
All fiveShiitecabinet ministers left the session in protest once Haykal entered the room.
Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos told reporters after the session that the government welcomed the plan but stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally passed it.
He said the army would begin implementing the plan according to its logistical, material and personnel capabilities, which might require "additional time (and) additional effort".
Morcos said the plan's details would remain secret.
Hezbollah-aligned Labour Minister Mohammad Haidar told local media before the cabinet's session had concluded that any decision taken in the absence of Shiite ministers would be null and void as it would be considered in contravention of Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
Originally published on France24
