The patriarch of the Maronite church, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, on Friday called for Lebanon's Hezbollah militia to disarm along with Syria's promised withdrawal from the country.
Sfeir, who has become a leading figure in the Lebanese Christian opposition in addition to his religious duties, spoke after meeting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan here to discuss the evolving situation in Lebanon.
"They were a group that fought to free southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation," Sfeir said of Hezbollah, which helped push Israel out of the country in 2000 after 22 years.
"But now that has been accomplished, there is no longer any reason for them to be armed," he told reporters.
Hezbollah was theoretically the only militia allowed to retain its arms after the end of the country's 1975-1990 civil war because it was considered a resistance movement.
But it continues to lead attacks on the disputed Shebaa Farms border area. The territory, seized by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, is claimed by Beirut with the approval of Damascus.
"It's a question for the three nations -- Lebanon, Syria and Israel -- to discuss. I think the United Nations could find a solution to the problem, and after that Hezbollah should just become a political group."
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday directly rejected a call from US President George W. Bush for his Shiite Muslim movement to disarm.
"We are being asked to disarm so that Lebanon remains defenceless. Our force is protecting Lebanon," Nasrallah said. "The core of the problem is that the United States and Israel want to disarm Hezbollah."
UN Security Council Resolution 1559, passed in September, calls for both the disarming of militia groups in Lebanon as well as the withdrawal of forces belonging to Syria, which has long been the major powerbroker in the country.
Pressure at home and abroad has been mounting for a pullout since last month, when former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri -- who had been critical of Syria's continuing influence in the country -- was assassinated.
Annan's spokesman on Thursday said the UN chief expects a complete withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon before a legislative election, set for May, is held.
"Mr Kofi Annan has stated that the Syrian forces will withdraw from Lebanon before the elections, and this is what we are hoping for," Sfeir said through his interpreter.
The Syrian army on Thursday completed the first stage of a planned pullout, with some 4,000 troops having returned home.
UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said last week after meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he had agreed to fulfil the terms of Resolution 1559 and to withdraw his military and intelligence units.
"Syria gave assurances to Mr Larsen and Mr Annan, and I hoping that those assurances will happen," Sfeir said, adding that Annan had indicated he would send international observers to the Lebanese polls.