BEIRUT, April 6 (Reuters) – U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that Hezbollah and other armed groups should be disarmed “as soon as possible” and that Lebanese troops were expected to do the job.
Ortagus spoke to Lebanese broadcaster LBCI at the end of a three-day visit to Beirut, where she met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and other officials and political representatives.
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Her visit followed several weeks of intensifying Israeli air strikes on Lebanon targeting members of Iran-backed Hezbollah and the group’s weapons depots, including two strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, and rocket fire from Lebanon onto Israel. Hezbollah denied any role in the rocket attacks.
The exchange of fire tested an already shaky ceasefire that ended a year-long war between Israel and Hezbollah, and calls for the disarmament of armed groups across the country.
