Source : Xinhua
BEIRUT, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Suleiman stressed Friday the need for the weapons of resistance groups in his country to be under the army's control.
Suleiman said in a statement that "The Baabda Declaration and a defense strategy that places the resistance's arms at the will of the army will protect Lebanon against any Israeli assault."
The Baabda Declaration, approved during a national dialogue session a year ago, calls for Lebanon to disassociate itself from regional conflicts.
Suleiman's remarks came after Lebanese Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday that his movement was "ready to receive any game- changing weapons (from Syria)."
"We're competent to possess and protect such type of weapons and we will use them to defend our people," Nasrallah said.
The response is the result of the recent Israeli attacks on military targets in Syria.
"Israel bombed Syria in order to say that continuing to back the resistance (against Israel) and supply it with military aid will lead to the downfall of the regime," said the Hezbollah chief.
"Israel knows that the source of strength of the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine is Syria, that's why it wants to remove it from the equation and to besiege the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine," he said.
Hezbollah is a staunch ally of the administration of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Syria has long been a conduit for Iranian weapons bound for Hezbollah
