Aoun Eyes Southern Liberation, Lebanese Flag to Fly Alone

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Friday that the army remains committed to protecting all Lebanese, including southerners, despite facing ongoing campaigns of defamation and incitement, during a visit to the South Litani Sector Command.

During the visit, a day ahead of Lebanon's independence day, Aoun hoped that the next independence day would come with the entire South liberated and only the Lebanese flag raised on its borders.

"Israel" has kept up near-daily attacks on Lebanon and still maintains troops in five areas in South Lebanon, despite a ceasefire reached last year.

It has intensified raids on Lebanon in recent weeks and says the army is failing to disarm Hezbollah and to prevent it from rebuilding its military capabilities.

Under a government-approved plan, the army is to dismantle Hezbollah military infrastructure South of the Litani river by the end of the year, before tackling the rest of the country.

The army commander was scheduled to visit Washington this week but the trip was called off after US political and military officials cancelled their meetings with him just hours before he was scheduled to depart on Tuesday, with a Republican Senator harshly criticizing General Rodolphe Haykal's "weak almost non-existent effort to disarm Hezbollah".