Bassil: Netherlands to Support Army with Weapons Worth $2.3M

The Netherlands has promised to assist the Lebanese Army with weapons worth 2.3 million dollars, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil announced on Monday.

“We discussed with the Dutch foreign minister means to counter terrorism in the region. We also discussed the bilateral relations between the two countries and how to develop them,” Bassil stated on his Twitter account after a meeting with his Dutch counterpart Frans Timmermans in The Netherlands.

“The Netherlands promised to help the Lebanese Army with weapons worth 2.3 million dollars,” he added.

Bassil also stated on Twitter: “We agreed with the Dutch to form a work group to follow up on the issue of (setting up a) criminal court over the massacres perpetrated by al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State.”

“We laid out the basis for follow-up through official experts and local and international organizations in order to gain access to all the necessary information to pursue, prosecute and punish the perpetrators,” he added.

Bassil also met in The Hague with International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

The army on Friday received a new shipment of ammunition as part of the U.S. military assistance program to the Lebanese Armed Forces, state-run National News Agency reported.

The first U.S. shipment of arms and ammunition was delivered to the army on August 29 as part of American military aid aimed at supporting the army in its combat of terrorism.

Deadly clashes broke out between the army and Islamist gunmen in the Bekaa border town of Arsal on August 2 over the arrest of a member of the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front, in one of the most dangerous spillovers of the Syrian conflict to date.

The fighting ended with a ceasefire on August 7 but the militants kidnapped around 35 troops and policemen.

The development prompted the U.S. to pledge to bolster the army, while Saudi Arabia unveiled a grant of one billion dollars dedicated to the military.

Z.A.

Y.R.