CAIRO, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Hours after Hezbollah's chief said party arms will remain in the border area, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora stressed the army will ban any armed appearances.
"The Lebanese government gave the army all powers to cooperate with UNIFIL and at the same time the army will forbid any armed appearances in the south," Siniora said following talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo Thursday.
Siniora reiterated that Lebanon will be the last Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel after a comprehensive Middle East settlement is achieved.
His comments follow declarations made by the Party of God's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in an interview with the Qatari al-Jazeera television Wednesday night that Israel has failed to reach its objective of dislodging Hezbollah fighters from the border area.
Under the terms of Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the month-long Israel-Hezbollah war, the Lebanese army -- backed by the enlarged United Nations' peacekeeping force UNIFIL -- is to take control of the area stretching from the border to the Litani River, some 19 miles north of the Blue Line.
"Hezbollah is still present south of the Litani River and in all of Lebanon," Nasrallah said.
"We have only removed observation points and as such there is no a demilitarized zone south of the Litani as they believe," Nasrallah added.
The black-turbaned cleric also launched a scathing attack against Siniora for receiving British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is accused of complicity with Israel for allowing American planes carrying smart bombs to the Jewish state to use British airports.
Commenting on that, Siniora told journalists in Cairo: "Lebanon is a democratic country, and we are keen on honoring this aspect fully and each one can say his opinion."
Resolution 1701 was approved unanimously by the Lebanese government; Hezbollah is represented in the government by two ministers.
