U.S. Confirms that it is Reviewing Assistance to Lebanese Armed Forces
The State Department has denied a report that the U.S. has quietly frozen weapon shipments to Lebanon's armed forces but defense officials confirmed that Washington was continuing to provide only training and nonlethal assistance to the Lebanese military.
“Our assistance programs to the Lebanese armed forces continue and that no decision regarding any kind of freeze has been made at this time,” said Acting Deputy Department Spokesman Mark Toner on Monday.
“I don’t know about specific shipments, but we haven’t made any decision to freeze our assistance,” he said, when asked to confirm if there are arms shipments at this time.
His remarks came after The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. has quietly frozen weapon shipments to the Lebanese army following the collapse of Saad Hariri’s government in January.
A high-ranking Pentagon official confirmed to An Nahar that assistance was only in non-lethal equipment, saying “any decision to provide the Lebanese army with weaponry would be based on the policies of the next Lebanese government and particularly its commitment to Lebanon’s international agreements.”
“We are now reviewing the structure of our assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces after the collapse of the Lebanese government in January,” the official said.
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