Hizbullah to 'end armed presence in Beirut'
Lebanese opposition says Hizbullah to withdraw its armed forces from capital; earlier Saturday, Prime Minister Siniora charged Shiite group with carrying out 'armed coup,' said Israel should remain Lebanon's real enemy
"What Hizbullah did is a coup," Siniora said Saturday. "Hizbullah has become the problem of all of Lebanon. We are not scared of its weapons."
Gunman in Beirut (Photo: AP)
Later Saturday, an opposition statement said Hizbullah and its allies will end all armed presence in Beirut after the Lebanese army overturned government measures against the group. ""The Lebanese opposition will end all armed presence in Beirut so that the capital will be in the hands of the army," the statement said. However, the opposition noted that "civil disobedience" will continue.
By Saturday evening, eyewitnesses reported that trucks carrying Hizbullah gunmen were leaving Beirut as Lebanese soldiers were deploying in the streets.
Siniora slams 'Hizbullah coup'
The reports came shortly after the Lebanese army announced that it will comply with Hizbullah's demands, namely refraining from replacing the Beirut airport's security chief and allowing Hizbullah to maintain his separate communication network.
Meanwhile, Lebanese security and hospital officials said that at least 12 gunmen died and 20 wounded in a gun battle between pro- and anti-government groups in a remote region of northern Lebanon, bringing the total number of casualties in the violence to 37.
"Hizbullah and its allied carried out an armed coup while damaging public property," he said. "The country will not fall in the face of this coup. The people will not accept their liberty being undermined."
'We never declared war on Hizbullah'
Siniora added that "we believed and we still do that the real danger to the country comes from the direction of Israel – our true enemy. However, the experience we are going through at this time shows that our democratic regime has fallen victims to our homeland brothers."
"We did not underestimate the resistance against Israel, but what is Hizbullah doing in Lebanon?" Siniora said. "What is it doing on the roads to the airport? Is it controlling the road to Tel Aviv by controlling these roads? Syria is our sister and Israel is the enemy."
According to Siniora, the Lebanese government never declared a war on Hizbullah.
"The government never said it wanted to disarm Hizbullah. All the ethnic groups in Lebanon are partners to this country, yet Hizbullah decided on its own what he wishes Lebanon's future to look like. Our problem with Hizbullah is that it decides on its own when we shall have war and when we shall have peace. It is the one that decides on Lebanon's future and fate. This is our major problem with Hizbullah."
Elsewhere, gunmen loyal to Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt kidnapped three Hizbullah men and executed two of them, the al-Jazeera network reported. No further details were provided.
Reuters contributed to the report
