Six years after Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon under pressure from an armed campaign by Hizbullah, the group's weapons have become a major source of division. Despite United Nations resolutions demanding the disarming of militias in Lebanon, Hizbullah insists that the disarmament of its military wing must be linked to a broad peace deal with Israel, which seems to be a remote possibility.Hizbullah's stand is shared by other pro-Syrian actors in Lebanon, particularly President Emile Lahoud, despite growing domestic criticism against Hizbullah's weapons which threaten to keep Lebanon at the center of regional turmoil. "The resistance should be kept until a just and comprehensive peace is achieved in the region," Lahoud told reporters on Wednesday during a visit to Southern Lebanon to mark the anniversary of the withdrawal. "If the Lebanese Army were deployed along the borders (with Israel) ... it would be turned into a police" force to protect Israel's borders, "and this is not acceptable," he said.
| I'd call that an admission that there's a lot more danger to Israel from Lebanon than there is to Lebanon from Israel. |