BEIRUT: Army commander Jean Kahwaji and a French defense official signed Monday the final part of the French-Saudi deal to support the Lebanese military, according to France’s Foreign Ministry Tuesday.
The agreement, funded by a $3 billion Saudi grant, will go toward buying French weapons, equipment and vehicles and will also cover the cost of military training. The final requirement before it can be implemented is Saudia Arabia’s signature.
Admiral Edouard Guillaud, the head and representative of the French ODAS defense sales company, signed on behalf of France.
“While Lebanon faces a deteriorating security situation, the Army, which is suffering heavy losses as a result of the terrorism threat, should remain a guarantee of the country’s unity and stability,” a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement distributed in Beirut.
For over a year-and-a-half, the Army has been dealing with suicide bombings, terror plots, abductions and border incursions by radical groups including ISIS and the Nusra Front despite being woefully underequipped to do so.
“The signing of the Saudi-French deal is late, and we want the weapons delivery to start quickly, especially the helicopters and missiles,” premier Tammam Salam told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly last week. “There are attacks on the eastern borders and there are kidnapped soldiers [near Arsal]. We need weapons and military aid to confront those extremists.”
Both the U.K. and the U.S. have stepped up their assistance to the military and Iran has made an offer of aid, although it has not yet been accepted by the Lebanese government.
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