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MPs to debate Hizb Allah disarming
 Lebanese MPs will soon debate the thorny issue of disarming the Shia group Hezbollah, according to one of the leaders of the majority bloc in parliament. Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader, said on Friday he would call for Hezbollah fighters to be integrated into the Lebanese army even without the resolution of Lebanese claims to the disputed Israeli-held Shebaa Farms border district. "The Shebaa Farms issue lies at the heart of this motion that will be put before parliament," Jumblatt said at his headquarters in Mukhtara, just outside Beirut. "The ownership of these farms is Lebanese but Lebanon does not exercise sovereignty there and I recently obtained maps showing that they were added (to Lebanese territorial claims) in 2001 and were absent in 1962. We refuse to allow this front to remain open until we have proved Lebanon's claim to these farms and secured their liberation ... just as we refuse to allow Hezbollah to maintain a military wing separate from the army. The solution lies in the dismantling of Hezbollah's armed wing and its integration in the army, like we did (with other militias) in 1991," he said. Posted by: Fred 2006-02-12 |
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