UNIPATH STAFF
To aid in the fight against terrorism and promote national reconciliation, Lebanon received pledges for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of military aid during a multinational security conference in Rome in March 2018.
Although most of the donations came from European countries and the United States, Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia raised the possibility of contributing money in the future.
Lebanon is in the process of outlining a five-year National Defense Strategy that suggests ways in which the country can improve its military and internal security forces.
In 2017, in an operation called Fajr al-Joroud, Lebanese forces drove remaining Daesh fighters from lands abutting their northeast border with Syria. Terrorists had infiltrated the region around the town of Arsal.
“We will support Lebanon’s Army and security forces depending on their needs,” a Saudi diplomat told Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star in Rome. “The Army shall decide what it needs, and Saudi Arabia will see what it can do.”
France was the top donor to Lebanon, pledging 400 million euros in a line of credit to buy French military equipment. The United States noted that it had spent nearly $2 billion since 2006 on the Lebanese Army and security services.
The meeting was also attended by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Representatives also arrived from countries such as Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Sources: Asharq Al-Awsat, The Daily Star, Naharnet