The Lebanese cabinet today approved the deployment of the army to Southern Lebanon. They will not disarm Hezbollah and they will not remove Hezbollah from the region, effectively negating the UN resolution.
BEIRUT, Lebanon – The Lebanese Cabinet on Wednesday approved a plan to deploy the Lebanese army south of the Litani River starting the next day, a key demand of a U.N.-imposed cease-fire that halted 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
The government, however, apparently skirted another key demand of the United Nations, the disarmament of Hezbollah.
"It was approved," Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat told reporters of the army deployment as the meeting broke up.
The twice-delayed meeting approved sending the army to the south of the country where it will slowly take over territory from which Israeli forces have begun to withdraw.
A top official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak before a formal announcement was made, said the army deployment would start on Thursday.
In the strongest indication yet that the Islamic militant group would not disarm in the region or withdraw but rather melt into the local population and hide their weapons, Hezbollah's top official in south Lebanon said the guerrillas welcomed the Lebanese army's additional deployment in the south.
"Just like in the past, Hezbollah had no visible military presence and there will not be any visible presence now," Sheik Nabil Kaouk told reporters in Tyre on Wednesday.
It was the first meeting of the Cabinet, which includes two Hezbollah ministers, had not met since the cease-fire went into effect on Monday, owing to political divisions over the army deployment and Hezbollah's arsenal, which includes rocket launchers and positions that have survived the Israeli onslaught.
The Lebanese army has been preparing troops for the past few days for the deployment. The Cabinet approved the requirement of the U.N. cease-fire resolution requirement that the army sends 15,000 soldiers to the south to be joined by an equal number of U.N. peacekeepers to patrol the region between the Israeli border and the Litani River, 18 miles north of the border with Israel.
They made a mockery of the UN in record time. Not even an attempt to disguise their duplicity.
