Lebanon's Salam Tells U.N. Israel Framework Needs Timeline, Seeks Force to Replace UNIFIL

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday that the tripartite framework reached in U.S.-sponsored negotiations with Israel rests on two principles: Israel's withdrawal from all Lebanese territory and the Lebanese state's monopoly on arms, applied with reciprocity and phasing. He said the framework must now become practical steps within a clear timetable, with a mechanism to verify implementation. Salam said a war Lebanon did not choose had been imposed on it, and that no weapons may exist outside its armed forces. Noting that Security Council Resolution 2790 ends UNIFIL's operations at the end of this year, he urged agreement on a new international force to replace it.