Salam: Only the state is authorized to make decisions about war and peace

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed that his government is determined to launch a “national reset” process, based on two interrelated pillars: sovereignty and reform. Salam explained in an article published in the Financial Times that sovereignty represents the first pillar, stressing that “no party other than the Lebanese state may possess weapons within its territory,” and that the state alone is authorized to make decisions about war and peace. He said that, on August 5, the government commissioned the Lebanese army to prepare a comprehensive plan to ensure the state’s monopoly on weapons throughout Lebanese territory. A month later, the government approved the plan, which stipulates in its first phase a period of 3 months to impose exclusive control over weapons, south of the Litani River.