Lebanese govt should be the only one carrying arms in country, says PM Najib Mikati

In a potentially far-reaching statement, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said that only the state should carry arms.

“Lebanese authorities must deploy over [all] Lebanese territory and weapons should be carried only by the state and the Lebanese army,” said Mikati on the sidelines of a Lebanon aid conference in Paris, according to AFP.

Mikati’s statement practically called for the cessation of Hezbollah’s military activities and carrying arms in Lebanon. He, however, did not mention the armed group by name.

Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based and Iran-backed terrorist group, effectively runs a state within a state in Lebanon. It has a military, political party, and social organisations of its own and is hugely influential in the country. It is currently at war with Israel, which is waging an aerial and ground campaign against it inside Lebanon and has decapitated much of its leadership.

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Even though Mikati did not mention Hezbollah by name, it was apparent for all that he was referring to it as it is the only armed group that did not lay down arms after the end of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-90).

As a result of Hezbollah’s armed strength, deep sociopolitical influence, and Lebanese state’s own inefficiency, the Lebanese government’s role in the nation is quite limited and Hezbollah and its backer Iran have an outsized role in the country’s affairs. Large swathes of the country, particularly in the southern region bordering Israel, are practically under Hezbollah’s control.

Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have previously fought twice in 1982 and 2006.