BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 16 (UPI) -- Lebanese political leaders failed to agree on the fate of President Emile Lahoud's extended mandate which the majority consider illegal.
House Speaker Nabih Berri, who also heads the Shiite Amal Movement, said Tuesday following four hours of national dialogue at parliament seat in downtown Beirut, that participants moved on to the next item on the agenda which is the future of Hezbollah's armed resistance.
"The participants in the dialogue did not reach an agreement over the issue of the president of the republic and moved on discussing Lebanon's defense police and the resistance arms," Berri told reporters.
The majority in parliament want Lahoud to step down after his mandate was extended for three years at Syria's behest in September 2004. But Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement led by Christian Gen. Michel Aoun expressed reservations.
Regarding Hezbollah's arms, the majority wants the Party of God to be disarmed after most south Lebanon was liberated from Israeli occupation, with the exception of the controversial Shabaa Farms area.
Berri said Hezbollah agreed to discuss the fate of its arms within the framework of protecting Lebanon from Israeli aggressions.
He said discussion of the strategy of defending Lebanon started by outlining the danger that the Israeli enemy posed to Lebanon, starting from the occupation of the Shabaa Farms to the landmines planted by Israel during its 23 years occupation of south Lebanon.
Berri said Hezbollah distributed to the participants a 226-page document on his vision of Lebanon's defense policy and protection from Israeli threats.
The next session of national dialogue was fixed on June 8.
Disarming Hezbollah and armed Palestinian groups and deploying the Lebanese army in south Lebanon along the border with Israel are stipulated by Security Council resolutions.
