Sleiman: Hezbollah may hand over its weapons once LAF’s capabilities upgraded

President Michel Sleiman stressed on Tuesday that he is seeking to deal with the repercussions of the Syrian conflict on Lebanon during his meetings held at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, in cooperation with the International Support Group for Lebanon.

On the issue of the Syrian refugees, Sleiman told Le Figaro French Newspaper that “at least 800 thousand refugees have been officially registered, in addition to the 300 thousand Syrian workers and the 90 thousand Palestinian refugees who have settled in Lebanon.” He added that the refugees constitute now over 35% of the population, which is considered a heavy burden that Lebanon is unable to bear, stressing the need to obtain international support.

Commenting on the file of the cabinet formation, Sleiman revealed that new government may be formed before the first of October upon the efforts deployed in coordination with the Prime Minister-Designate Tammam Salam.

On another note, the president pointed out that he never spoke of “disarmament”, since Hezbollah has contributed in to the liberation of several Lebanese territories previously occupied by Israel. He stated that the only way to convince Hezbollah of handing over its weapons to the Lebanese authorities is by improving the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces and providing it with effective anti-aircraft and artillery systems.