Berri: Plenty of Time to Avoid the 'Sin' of Not Renewing UNIFIL
Beirut – Mansour Shaaban: Prime Minister Dr. Nawaf Salam continued his communications and meetings with senior officials of the U.S. administration, while receiving at the Second Presidential Palace members of the U.S. Congress, Darin LaHood and Josh Gottheimer, as well as a British military delegation led by Major General Charlie Collins.
Salam affirmed that Lebanon “has settled on the choice that no authority shall supersede the authority of the state, no weapons shall exist outside its legitimate institutions, and no decisions on war and peace shall be made outside its constitutional institutions.” The Lebanese Prime Minister’s Office stated in a press release that these remarks were made during a dinner hosted by Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington, Nada Meawad.
Salam added that his government seeks to rebuild the state and restore the trust of Lebanese citizens in it through the paths of sovereignty and reform, noting progress in amending the bank secrecy law and the law reforming the status of banks, as well as working on the financial regulation law and the recovery of deposits. He stressed that the fundamental pillar for restoring sovereignty is the state’s monopoly on weapons, emphasizing that this applies to Hezbollah and all armed factions other than state institutions.
For his part, Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, in the presence of U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Lebanon Keith Haniague, told Congressmen LaHood and Gottheimer that the main obstacle to implementing the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon is Israel’s failure to comply with the obligations of all agreements concluded to end the conflict. He reiterated that the U.S. administration and President Donald Trump are the only ones capable of exerting pressure to compel Israel to halt its war on Lebanon. He praised all aid provided to support the Lebanese Armed Forces. He also reaffirmed that Lebanon’s right to hold Israel accountable for its crimes is a sovereign right that cannot be relinquished in any form.
Meanwhile, Berri received Major Charlie Collins, Deputy Chief of the British Ministry of Defence Staff, and the accompanying military delegation, who presented a detailed overview of military cooperation programs and assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces, involving multiple friendly countries to Lebanon. The delegation also heard a briefing on the general situation in Lebanon and the region, as well as recent developments on the ground resulting from Israel’s continued aggression against Lebanon, particularly in the south.
Berri stressed that there is still ample time to avoid the mistake of failing to renew the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), emphasizing the importance of a UN umbrella and the presence of any force assisting the Lebanese Armed Forces under the UN flag after Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territories.
