PM Salam: Lebanon has disarmed 80% of militias in the south

The state should have a monopoly on arms

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said his government has achieved about 80 percent of its goals in disarming militias in the country’s southern regions, vowing that the state must maintain exclusive control over all weapons nationwide.

“All over the Lebanese territory, the state should have a monopoly on arms,” Salam said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “We don’t want to put the country onto a civil-war track, but believe me, this is not going to affect our commitment to the need to extend and consolidate the authority of the state.”

"The Lebanese government has achieved roughly 80 percent of its objectives in disarming militias in the southernmost areas of the country," Salam affirmed.

A senior Arab official told the paper that Israeli intelligence, passed along by the U.S, has helped the Lebanese army locate and dismantle hezbollah's remaining weapons stockpiles and outposts in the southern region. Both Israeli and American officials were described as “pleasantly surprised” by the pace and scope of the army’s progress.

“We do see a lot of areas where the Lebanese army is way more effective than expected. The Israeli army is generally pleased by this trend and we are expecting it to continue,” an Israeli military official told the newspaper.

A Lebanese military source told the Journal that while some of the confiscated weapons are destroyed, others, if deemed usable, are retained to bolster the army’s own limited arsenal.