Beirut weighs issue of Hezbollah weapons

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Lebanese lawmakers cited the issue of Hezbollah weapons as complicating the drafting of a policy statement expected from the new government Sunday.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri handed in his list of new Cabinet ministers to President Michel Suleiman earlier this month, ending a political battle that began when Hariri led his March 14 coalition to victory in June parliamentary elections.

Lawmakers had pledged to release a coordinated policy statement in time for Lebanese Independence Day, which will be marked Sunday. The issue of weapons for Shiite resistance movement Hezbollah drags on deliberations, however, reports Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper.

Hezbollah under the terms of a 2006 cease-fire that ended a 34-day war with Israel is obligated to abandon its weapons. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the occasion of the announcement of the new Lebanese government urged Hezbollah to integrate into the political sphere completely

Hezbollah moved closer to the political sector in Lebanon, winning posts in the new government. Allegations of continued militancy along the Israeli border continue to strain regional relations, however.

Hezbollah announced Thursday it appointed Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah to another term, adding a new policy statement was expected from the movement that is in line "with the nature of the new development in Hezbollah's structure as well as its path during the last few years."