Lebanon repudiates UN 1559 outlawing Hizballah terror militia

Lebanon has announced its repudiation of 2004 UN Security Council resolution 1559 which in 2004 ordered all militias including Hizballah disbanded and disarmed. Lebanese sources reported Wednesday, Dec. 23, that president Michel Suleiman had notified US president Barack Obama about this decision, while Lebanese foreign minister Ali al-Shami passed the word to heads of the diplomatic missions.
The announcement came two days after Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki visited Beirut and shortly after Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri held talks in Damascus with Syrian president Bashar Assad.
The US embassy spokesman’s only comment was: “We haven’t received a verbal note on the matter.”
He did say whether the notice had been relayed to the embassy or directly to President Obama when Suleiman met him at the White House last week.
According to debkafile‘s military sources, Mottaki’s visit was devoted to discussing with Lebanese leaders, including Hizballah heads, Beirut’s possible attachment to the new Iranian-Syrian mutual defense pact signed last Thursday, Dec. 10 in Damascus. Its terms deal with the coordinated steps the two nations will pursue in the event of an Israel attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Lebanese officials replied to the Iranian feeler by saying it was too soon to broach this plan now, but could be discussed when prime minister Saad Hariri visits Tehran some time soon. Iran’s invitation was handed to Hariri when he visited Damascus this week for his first meeting with Syrian president Bashar Assad, since his the assassination of his father in Beirut four years ago. Syria was widely implicated in the murder.
Lebanese officials also advised Mottaki that Iranian-Lebanese relations would be best served by quiet, inconspicuous action to have Security Council Resolution 1559 annulled. This would leave Hizballah free to take delivery of continuous arms consignments from Iran and Syria in broad daylight without either side being accused of illicit smuggling.
No government may unilaterally repudiate a Security Council resolution – only the SC, which must reconvene and adopt a fresh motion to amend or annul the motion in question. However, Beirut feels confident enough to make this gesture of defiance, emboldened both by Iranian and Syrian support and by apparent Israeli apathy in the face of Hizballah’s massive arms build-up, which is going forward with the full endorsement of the Lebanese government and president. Even the most recent supply of a mixed bag of lethal surface missiles from Syria to Hizballah has failed to rouse the Netanyahu government to a response.