By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon’s government on Tuesday tasked the army with developing a plan to restrict arms to the state by year end, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said.

The government "tasked the Lebanese Army with setting an implementation plan to restrict weapons" to the army and other government forces "before the end of this year," with the plan to be presented to the cabinet by the end of this month, Salam told a press conference after a nearly six-hour cabinet session headed by President Joseph Aoun.

Environment Minister Tamara Al-Zein of the Amal Movement and Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine of Hezbollah had walked out of the cabinet session shortly before its end in protest at its decisions.

State Minister for Administrative Development Fadi Makki meanwhile voiced reservations over the part related to setting a timetable before the army presents its proposal and before the continuation of discussions in the presence of all parties in the next cabinet session.

Finance Minister Yassine Jaber of the Amal Movement and Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar of Hezbollah did not attend the session due to their presence outside the country.

Salam also announced that Cabinet would discuss the latest US paper in its session on Thursday.

Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sheikh Naim Qassem, in a televised address while the cabinet meeting was underway, said Hezbollah would not disarm while "Israeli" attacks continue.

"Any timetable presented for implementation under... 'Israeli' aggression cannot be agreed to," he said.

Qassem also criticized a recent proposal presented by US envoy Tom Barrack on disarming the group.

Before discussing the fate of its weapons, which it considers a matter of domestic defense strategy, Hezbollah has demanded that reconstruction of areas destroyed during the war begin, and that "Israel" stop its attacks, withdraw from five areas it occupies and release Lebanese detainees.