Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of the United Nations has strongly criticized Hezbollah in a report to the Security Council obtained Monday by the Associated Press.
Guterres called on Lebanon’s government and armed forces “to take all measures necessary to prohibit Hezbollah and other armed groups from acquiring weapons and building paramilitary capacity” outside the authority of the state. He said Hezbollah’s military activity violates a 2004 Security Council resolution ordering all Lebanese militias to disarm. The secretary-general said Hezbollah’s engagement in the Syrian conflict also violates Lebanon’s official policy of “disassociation,” or neutrality in regional affairs.