Hezbollah says its arms needed to resist Israel

A senior Hezbollah official says despite Israel's decision "in principle" to pull out of a disputed border village, the group's weapons are still necessary.

The comments of Hussein Khalil, the political adviser to Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, come three days after Israel announced its decision to withdraw from the northern half of Ghajar.

Khalil said Saturday that Israel is still occupying the disputed Chebaa Farms and Kfar Chouba Hills captured from Syria four decades ago.

Israel captured Ghajar in 1967. After Israel ended an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, U.N. surveyors split it between Lebanon and the Israeli-controlled Golan. Israel took the villages' northern half in the 2006 war with Hezbollah.

Top US general pledges support to Lebanese military

General James Mattis, the U.S. Central Command chief, on Friday pledged his country would continue to support the Lebanese army, a week after Washington lifted a freeze on military aid to Beirut.

"General Mattis came to Lebanon to reiterate... the U.S. government's position that the United States is committed to the continuity of (the Central Command's) relationship with the Lebanese army and to supporting legitimate institutions of the Lebanese state," the U.S. embassy said.

Clinton congratulates Lebanon on national day

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday congratulated Lebanon on its upcoming independence day, reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the country's unity and sovereignty.

"Today, we again affirm the commitment of the United States to an independent, sovereign, and unified Lebanon with strong and effective state institutions," Clinton said in a written statement.

"We firmly believe that preserving a peaceful, prosperous, democratic, and stable Lebanon is essential for the security of the Lebanese people, and for the region more broadly," she added.

Political tensions have been rising in Lebanon as Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri is locked in a standoff with Hezbollah over a U.N.-backed probe into the assassination of his father, former premier Rafiq Hariri.

Lebanon celebrates its National Day on November 22.