BEIRUT: France says it will begin shipping $3 billion worth of weapons paid for by Saudi Arabia to the Lebanese Army in April.
The Defense Ministry Wednesday said the deal, first announced in 2013, would supply French armored vehicles, warships, attack helicopters, munitions and communications gear. The deal also includes training programs for the Lebanese Army run by the French military.
The deal aims to boost Lebanon’s military as it struggles to contain a rising tide of violence linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria.
Lebanese troops engage in almost daily altercations with militants from ISIS and the Nusra Front holed up on the mountainous outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal.
The fighters briefly occupied the town last summer and are still holding at least 25 servicemen they kidnapped during the battles.
Last December, Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi signed the final Lebanese-French agreement under which Paris would provide the $3 billion worth of weapons.
The delay in delivering the weapons to the Army was attributed to technical reasons.
Around eight months after announcing the deal, Saudi Arabia declared that it granted Lebanese security services another $1 billion.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in Beirut shortly after to oversee the implementation of the second grant.
Besides the threat from the border, the Army and other security agencies are cracking down on terror cells plotting attacks inside Lebanon.
The country has witnessed a spate of suicide bombings over the past two years most of which targeted areas associated with Hezbollah.
The bombings were claimed by jihadi groups in Syria that said they were in retaliation to Hezbollah’s military involvement alongside the Syrian regime.
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