Mitri: donors tie aid to reforms and the state's monopoly on arms

Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri told Al Jazeera that some countries link aid to Lebanon with reforms, a state monopoly on weapons and the return of the decision on war and peace to the state, as reported by LBCI.

According to Al-Markazia, he also said there has been no progress on the weapons-monopoly file and that Lebanon asked Iran to appoint a new ambassador in Beirut. Al Jazeera quoted him as saying Lebanon is caught between Israel's conditions and Hezbollah's.

These accounts rest on his interview as relayed by the outlets; the ambassador request was reported by a single outlet.

The message is plain: international support depends on a state that alone holds arms and decides on war and peace.