Report: Hezbollah outlines arms talks conditions

BEIRUT - Hezbollah would be prepared to discuss the fate of its armed wing if Israel withdrew from a disputed border area, the Lebanese guerrilla group's deputy leader said in a British newspaper interview on Friday.

Sheikh Naim Kassem said one alternative could involve Hezbollah's fighters becoming a kind of "reservist army" working with Lebanese authorities, the Financial Times reported.

The United States and United Nations have called for Hezbollah to be disarmed.

Kassem said no talks could take place while Israel remained in the Shaba Farms area.

Lebanon says Shaba Farms is Lebanese land occupied by Israel, while the UN describes it as Israeli-occupied Syrian territory.

"We will discuss (Hezbollah's) arms after Shaba, but on condition that a credible alternative is found to protect Lebanon," Kassem told the Financial Times.

"A reservist army doesn't mean the resistance becomes part of the army, but it is a formula of coordination with the army. It is resistance by another name," he said.

In a later statement, Hezbollah said that did not mean the guerrilla group would be subject to Lebanese Army orders, though they might coordinate to defend Lebanon. It said the details of any such scheme still had to be negotiated.

Hezbollah, a Shi'ite Muslim group backed by Syria and Iran, has previously said it will not disarm until Israel withdraws from Shaba Farms and will keep its arms as long as Israel threatens Lebanon.

Debate about disarming Hezbollah has resurfaced since Syria began withdrawing its troops from Lebanon in the wake of the February 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who fell out with Syria before his death.

But the timing of such a move remains a sensitive issue. Most of Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition say talks should start after the Shaba Farms issue has been resolved and say it is a domestic Lebanese issue. Some have called for talks sooner.

UN Security Council Resolution 1559, sponsored by the United States and France, calls for disarming all militias in Lebanon and the departure of all foreign forces. Hezbollah says it is a resistance force, not a militia.

Washington labels Hezbollah a "terrorist" group and has led international calls for its fighters to be disarmed.