Is Hariri giving up? Says he can do nothing about Hezbollah arms

Prime Minister Saad Hariri has  given up on trying to disarm Hezbollah and said  he cannot do anything about this matter , stressing there is no “domestic solution” for Hezbollah’s controversial possession of a huge arsenal of weapons.

“The solution for Hezbollah ’s arms is regional solution and not a domestic one and we cannot do anything in this regard,” Hariri said in an interview with Saudi Arabia’s Arrajol magazine that was published on Sunday.

He also claimed  that Russia had promised him “not to allow the Assad regime in Syria to harm stability and sovereignty in Lebanon.”

Both Hezbollah and the Assad regime are allied with Russia

“Hezbollah  does not have the ability to run the country and its strength stems from the Iranian-financed weapons,” Hariri added

Former justice minister Ashraf Rifi said that   Hariri “has returned to Hezbollah’s captivity.”

“I believe that the real moment of freedom that PM Hariri lived was when he declared his resignation” from Riyadh, Rifi told Bahrain’s al-Watan newspaper in excerpts of an interview that will be published in full on Monday.

“Hariri has wasted a golden chance for our camp,” Rifi added.

“The dissociation policy is only present in the ministerial Policy Statement… Enough with lying… For whose sake Lebanon and the Lebanese people are being sold to Iran?” Rifi asked.

As for Hariri’s decision to put his resignation on hold, Rifi  described it as “a constitutional heresy.”

Hariri had caused widespread perplexity on November 4 when he resigned during a TV broadcast from Saudi Arabia, citing assassination threats and blasting the policies of Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon and the region.

After a puzzling mini-odyssey that took him to France, Egypt and Cyprus, Hariri arrived back in Lebanon on Tuesday and then announced that he was putting his decision to quit on hold ahead of negotiations.

While Hariri and his backers seemed on a collision course with Hezbollah only a few days ago, an apparent behind-the-scenes deal now appears to be restoring the status quo.

Progressive Socialist Party chief and the head of the Democratic Gathering Parliamentary bloc MP Walid Jumblatt on Saturday called on Saudi Arabia to enter into dialogue with Iran stressing that such talks will be a great help for Lebanon in implementing its dissociation policy.

“Out of keenness for the Kingdom and the Yemeni people, there is a need for reconciliation or compromise. There is no shame in having talks with the Islamic Republic to arrange this settlement away from personal attacks from here and there. Peace and reconciliation must prevail between the two peoples,” he stressed.