Lebanon PM ready to implement 2006 deal on Hezbollah’s armed presence south of Litani River

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Lebanon PM ready to implement 2006 deal on Hezbollah’s armed presence south of Litani River

BEIRUT (Reuters) -The Lebanese government is ready to fully implement a UN resolution that had aimed to end Hezbollah’s armed presence south of the Litani River as part of an agreement to stop war with *******, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said.

Mikati said Lebanon was ready to fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and deploy the army south of the river, which ***** about 30 km (around 20 miles) from Lebanon’s southern border.

Mikati also said he and House Speaker Nabih Berri had agreed that electing a new president to end a near two-year vacancy at the top post would only happen after a ceasefire took hold, in comments delivered after the pair met in Beirut.

******** forces have dealt multiple blows to Hezbollah in a two-week wave of attacks on targets in Lebanon that has eliminated several commanders.

The possibility that *******’s next move might be to send ground troops and tanks over the border is on many minds.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says more than 1,000 Lebanese have been ******* and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, without specifying how many were civilians. One million people – a fifth of the population – have fled their homes, the government says.

“We in Lebanon are ready to implement 1701, and immediately upon the implementation of the ceasefire, Lebanon is ready to send the Lebanese army to the area south of the Litani River and to carry out its full duties,” in coordination with UN peacemakers, Mikati said.

He said parliament would then convene to elect a consensus president.

UNSC 1701 ended the month-long 2006 war between Hezbollah and ******* and called for a full ******** withdrawal from southern Lebanon and that the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers be the only armed force south of the Litani River.

(Reporting by Timour AzhariEditing by Gareth Jones and Jon Boyle)

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