Abbas to Suleiman: We Don't Need Arms, Lebanon Can Protect Us

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stressed Tuesday that “the Palestinians are under the Lebanese law and we don’t need all the weapons, as we are under the protection of the Lebanese people, president, government and parliament.”

Abbas arrived Tuesday in Beirut for a 2-day visit during which he will hold talks with top Lebanese officials, inspect the living conditions of Palestinian refugees and seek Lebanon’s support for the Palestinian bid for U.N. membership.

His trip to Lebanon is essential for his cause given that Beirut assumes the presidency of the Security Council in September.

“We believe that Lebanon enjoys sovereignty over its entire territory,” Abbas added, during an Iftar banquet thrown in his honor by President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda palace.

“Let no one think that we are considering naturalization” in Lebanon, the Palestinian leader went on to say.

For his part, Suleiman asked for Abbas’ “continued cooperation on the issue of creating the suitable circumstances for the disarmament (of Palestinian factions) inside and outside (refugee) camps.”

“We should give great importance to the status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, as Lebanon’s security is interlinked with the camps’ security and its sovereignty lies in extending the rule of law over its entire territories,” Suleiman said in a speech during the Iftar banquet.

“We assure you that Lebanon will stand by Palestine in its U.N. statehood bid,” Suleiman added, addressing the Palestinian leader.

Earlier on Tuesday, Abbas and Suleiman held closed-door talks at the presidential palace in Baabda. They were later joined by the members of the Palestinian delegation and a number of Lebanese officials.

Abbas was welcomed at the airport by Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, the heads of the airport’s security and civil authorities, Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon Abdullah Abdullah and the embassy’s employees, and representatives of the Palestinian political parties.

The Palestinian delegation accompanying Abbas comprises Fatah Movement Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmed, Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee member Saeb Erakat, Palestinian Presidency official spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina, Abbas’ diplomatic advisor Majdi al-Khaledi and General Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Majed Faraj.

Before he headed to the Baabda palace, Abbas held separate talks at the airport’s VIP lounge with FM Mansour and a number of representatives of Palestinian factions.

Abbas is expecting that the Palestinian bid for United Nations recognition will receive a boost from Lebanon, which will assume the rotating presidency of the the U.N. Security Council in September.

In an interview with al-Liwaa daily published Monday, Abbas hoped that Lebanon would play an effective role in his bid for U.N. membership on September 20, despite Israeli opposition.

He said that he rejects the presence of Palestinian arms in Lebanon “because they don’t have any value on Lebanese territories.”

“We reiterated that we will hand over the arms at the time that Lebanese authorities see appropriate,” he told the newspaper. “We are responsible for arms inside the camps but the weapons that are outside our responsibility, belong to other organizations that carry them for personal reasons.”

Abbas hoped that some political parties in Lebanon would understand that giving rights to Palestinian people does not mean naturalizing them in the country.

Diplomatic sources told An Nahar daily that Abbas’ two day visit will be aimed at discussing with Lebanese officials the issue of Palestinian camps, armed bases outside the shantytowns and the improvement of the humanitarian conditions of refugees.

During his visit, Abbas will also inaugurate the Palestinian embassy and hoist the flag after the Lebanese cabinet officially recognized the state of Palestine and approved to raise the level of diplomatic representation with it.

The Palestinian president is also scheduled to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Lebanon’s envoy to the U.N. Nawwaf Salam.

Following the collapse of direct peace talks with Israel in September last year, the Palestinians adopted a diplomatic strategy aimed at securing U.N. recognition for a state within the frontiers that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War.

Lebanon, which remains technically in a state of war with Israel, approved the recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in November 2008 but the decision was never implemented.

Miqati's cabinet, in which Hizbullah and its allies hold majority, last week agreed to apply the decision, making Lebanon the last Arab country to recognize a Palestinian state.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) estimates that some 425,000 Palestinian refugees reside in Lebanon, a country with a population of four million. Other estimates however put the number at some 250,000.

By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter the country's 12 refugee camps, leaving security inside the destitute camps to the Palestinians.