Khalilzad and I talk Lebanon

More of my sit-down with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad at Pajamas Media today, this part focused on the crisis in Lebanon:

Q: Is Security Council Resolution 1701 working? Is Hezbollah rearming? Are they more powerful in spite of it?

KHALILZAD: “There’s no question that Hezbollah is getting arms in violation of the Security Council resolution, and those arms are coming across the border, through Syria, and Iran is the ultimate supporter. … The U.N. forces, the forces under U.N. command, have done a good job in terms of the south. They’re going in where Hezbollah was at the Israeli border and taking control and working with the Lebanese army . … The cooperation has been good and the Lebanese army has performed well.”

Q: In terms of keeping Hezbollah from firing mortars?

KHALILZAD: “Yeah, and to make sure that area does not become a threat to Israel again. But the question of the buildup of Hezbollah forces, the weapons that are coming across … there are a number of ideas people are talking about, whether to send forces to be deployed also on the Syrian border, should there be more Lebanese capabilities developed to monitor that border more effectively. So this is an issue that will have to be dealt with.”

Read on, including Khalilzad's thoughts on elections and the Hariri assassination!