Ortagus says 'Hezbollah and all militias' must be disarmed 'as soon as possible'

Visiting U.S. deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus has addressed the issue of Hezbollah's disarmament in her talks with Lebanese officials over the weekend.

In an interview with Lebanese television channel LBCI broadcast on Sunday, Ortagus said Washington continued to press Lebanon's government "to fully fulfill the cessation of hostilities, and that includes disarming Hezbollah and all militias," adding it should happen "as soon as possible."

"The sooner that the LAF (Lebanese army) is able to meet these goals and to disarm all militias in the state, the sooner the Lebanese people can be free... from foreign influence, free from terrorism," she said.

Hezbollah was the only Lebanese armed group that refused to surrender its weapons following a 1975-1990 civil war, arguing that its arms were necessary to fight against occupying Israeli troops in south Lebanon.

The group has been severely weakened by the latest conflict with Israel however.

Ortagus said she has had "fantastic meetings" in Lebanon.

President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam -- whose appointments this year ended a more than two-year leadership vacuum -- also called their discussions with her on Saturday positive.

They said the talks addressed events in the south as well as economic reforms.

- Reforms -

A Lebanese official, speaking anonymously as they were not authorized to brief the media, said Saturday that Ortagus discussed "intensifying and speeding up" the Lebanese Army's work in "dismantling Hezbollah's military infrastructure, leading to restricting weapons to state hands, without setting a timetable."

The official added that Ortagus had "implied" that the reconstruction of war-ravaged areas "requires first achieving reforms and the expansion of state authority."

International creditors have long demanded reforms to unlock bailout funds that could help ease Lebanon's five-year economic crisis, which has been widely blamed on mismanagement and corruption.

Lebanon's finance ministry said Ortagus met Sunday with Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, Economy Minister Amer Bisat and new central bank governor Karim Souaid.

Discussions included "reforms initiated by the government... and the economic reform program," a ministry statement said.

It added that the bank chief and the two ministers would attend International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington later this month.

Ali Fayyad, a member of Lebanon's parliament for Hezbollah, condemned what he called "flagrant interference in reforms and financial, monetary and administrative matters."

"We don't want reforms tailored to foreign wills and their politics seeking to dominate the country."

Ortagus, during the LBCI interview, said: "If they make the choice to work together and partner with the U.S. government to disarm Hezbollah, to fulfill the cessation of hostilities, to end endemic corruption in this country, we're going to be a wonderful partner and friend."