Bassil says govt. approval of 'American' paper shameful

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has criticized the government’s approval of the objectives of U.S. envoy Tom Barrack’s paper, saying Cabinet should have approved a “Lebanese” paper instead.

“Let them at least preserve the form! And let them adopt a Lebanese paper, not an American, Syrian, Iranian or any other country's paper! What a shame!” Bassil said in a post on X.

“We were born from the heart of legitimacy and the womb of the Lebanese Army and we’re the ones who want arms monopoly and to have the decisions inside state institutions, but we cannot but cry when we see this subservience to foreign forces,” the FPM chief added.

Cabinet’s decision on Thursday prompted the ministers of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement to withdraw from the session. They had also walked out of a cabinet session on Tuesday when the government decided to task the army with presenting a plan to monopolize arms in the country before the month’s end.