BEIRUT: Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement, retracted a joint invitation issued on Monday to their supporters to take to the streets in protest of a government decision limiting the possession of weapons to the Lebanese state.
This move came hours after the two groups had called on “workers and their unions” to gather on Wednesday afternoon in Riyad Al-Solh Square in the heart of Beirut, just meters away from the government headquarters, to denounce the Cabinet decision and defend “the sanctity of the resistance and its noble weapon,” a ruling which they called “a decision contrary to the supreme national interest and the formula for coexistence.”
The call to take to the streets and the subsequent announcement of its postponement came on the eve of pivotal meetings with US Envoy Thomas Barrack, who is expected in Beirut on Tuesday to relay Israel’s response to a US-Lebanese proposal on implementing the ceasefire terms between Israel and Hezbollah. The protest suspension signals that Hezbollah and Amal are awaiting the outcome of Barrack’s talks before escalating their opposition to the government ruling.
A ministerial source told Arab News that “communications took place between decision makers, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the architect of the ceasefire agreement, and concluded that it is not permissible to preempt Barrack’s arrival in Beirut and what Israeli responses he may be carrying, nor to preempt the next session of the Council of Ministers, during which the Lebanese army is scheduled to present its plan for withdrawing illegal weapons.”
