WikiLeaks: Geagea Says Turning Hizbullah into Internal Problem Key to Disarming it

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea believed that turning Hizbullah into an internal Lebanese problem will pave the way to its disarmament, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Friday.

Dated July 25, 2006, the WikiLeaks cable also quoted Geagea as saying that a ceasefire in the July 2006 war that does not call for the party’s disarmament will “inevitably lead to the renewal of the hostilities between Hizbullah and Israel.”

The key to disarming the group lies in turning it into an internal Lebanese problem where the people view it as a threat causing great damage to their country, he added.

Furthermore, he noted that Speaker Nabih Berri’s power in Lebanon would diminish as soon as Hizbullah is weakened.

“Berri’s power cannot be separated from Hizbullah’s,” Geagea stressed.