Miqati Meets Beirut MPs, Orders Security Forces to Set Plan on Reaching Arms-Free Beirut

A delegation of Beirut MPs held talks on Tuesday with Prime Minister Najib Miqati on the need to establish an arms-free Beirut.

MP Ammar Houri revealed after the meeting that the premier had requested the concerned security forces to devise a plan on achieving this goal.

MPs Houri, Nabil de Freij, and Ghazi Youssef comprised the delegation that met with the premier.

The talks, continued Houri, focused on removing all light and medium arms from the capital as part of a plan that would be implemented throughout Lebanon.

He noted that this issue enjoyed national consensus, starting with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who had spoken of such weapons in the possession of Lebanese citizens.

“These arms are used in internal strife, which is why we are demanding that they be removed from among the people,” stressed Houri.

The meeting with Miqati also addressed the Palestinian possession of arms inside and outside refugee camps, as well as the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border, he added.

These issues had been at the heart of the national dialogue that was launched in 2006, he said.

All that remains of these matters is a defense strategy for Lebanon that should be the only topic of discussion of a new round of dialogue, Houri stressed.

Last week, the Beirut MPs held talks on establishing an arms-free Beirut with President Michel Suleiman.

The MPs had held a meeting on December 19 criticizing the security situation in Lebanon and blaming the instability for the widespread possession of arms among the people.