By Maya Gebeily and Laila Bassam
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon’s cabinet will meet on Tuesday to discuss Hezbollah’s arsenal, after Washington ramped up pressure on ministers to publicly commit to disarming the Iran-backed group and amid fears Israel could intensify strikes if they fail to do so.
The session scheduled for 3:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) at Lebanon’s presidential palace is the first time that cabinet will discuss the fate of Hezbollah’s weapons – unimaginable when the group was at the zenith of its power just two years ago.
Pressure from the U.S. and Hezbollah’s domestic rivals for the group to relinquish its arms has spiked following last year’s war with Israel, which killed Hezbollah’s top leaders and thousands of fighters and destroyed much of its rocket arsenal.
In June, U.S. envoy Thomas Barrack proposed a roadmap to Lebanese officials to fully disarm Hezbollah, in exchange for Israel halting its strikes on Lebanon and withdrawing its troops from five points they still occupy in southern Lebanon.
That proposal included a condition that Lebanon’s government pass a cabinet decision clearly pledging to disarm Hezbollah.
After Barrack made several trips to Lebanon to urge progress on the plan, Washington’s patience began wearing thin, Reuters reported last week. It pressured Lebanon’s ministers to swiftly make the public pledge so that talks could continue.
But Lebanese officials and diplomats say such an explicit vow could spark communal tensions in Lebanon, where Hezbollah and its arsenal retain significant support among the country’s Shi’ite Muslim community.
PROPOSED WORDING
On Monday evening, a group of dozens of motorcycles set out from a neighbourhood in Beirut’s suburbs where Hezbollah has strong support, carrying the party’s flags.
Hezbollah’s main ally, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, has been in talks with President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam ahead of Tuesday’s session to agree on a general phrase to include in a cabinet decision to appease the U.S. and buy Lebanon more time, two Lebanese officials said.
Berri’s proposed wording would commit Lebanon to forming a national defence strategy and maintaining a ceasefire with Israel, but would avoid an explicit pledge to disarm Hezbollah across Lebanon, the officials said.
But other Lebanese ministers plan to propose a formulation that commits Lebanon to a deadline to disarm Hezbollah, said Kamal Shehadi, a minister affiliated with the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces party.
“There’s frankly no need to kick the can down the road and postpone a decision. We have to put Lebanon’s interest first and take a decision today,” Shehadi told Reuters.
Lebanese officials and foreign envoys say Lebanese leaders fear that a failure to issue a clear decision on Tuesday could prompt Israel to escalate its strikes, including on Beirut.
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire last November ended the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, though Israel has continued to carry out strikes on what it says are Hezbollah arms depots and fighters, mostly in southern Lebanon.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily and Laila Bassam; Editing by Alison Williams)
