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pledge billions to
Lebanons army
Correction: A previous version of this article gave an incorrect figure for the size
of Lebanon's military. It has 65,000 members, not 16,000.
Lebanese army soldiers carry their weapons during clashes with Islamist militants in
Tripoli on Oct. 25. (Stringer/Reuters)
BEIRUT Saudi Arabia and Iran have offered apparently competing aid packages
to Lebanons small and modestly armed military as it confronts increasing attacks
at home by militants with ties to extremists fighting in Syrias civil war.
The pledges total billions of dollars worth of mostly light arms and underscore
mounting concern among the Persian Gulf foes about the stability of a country
where both have invested significant resources.
The aid is on top of the more than $1 billion spent by the United States since 2006
to train and equip the 65,000-member military, which has limited authority and
yields to Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanons powerful Shiite militia. Hezbollah
supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight against Saudi-backed rebels.
Many suspect that the offers of assistance from Riyadh and Tehran are simply
another instance of one-upmanship between the Sunni and Shiite powerhouses.
You have to look at this as a regional issue, as part of their broader competition for
Motivations
militants linked to extremists in Syria briefly captured the Lebanese border town of
Arsal. Combined, the pledges amount to more than double the Lebanese militarys
estimated annual budget.
On Tuesday, France and Saudi Arabia signed a contract for the $3 billion deal,
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement that did not give details
on the types of weapons involved or when they would be delivered to Lebanon.
During a visit to Beirut in September, the secretary of Irans Supreme National
Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, responded with an arms offerfrom Tehran.
According to Lebanese media reports, that consists primarily of antitank weapons,
artillery and heavy machine guns.
Iranian support for Lebanons military would seem to complicate a desire shared by
Washington and Riyadh to use the army as a counter to Hezbollah. Iran relies
heavily on the group, which was allowed to retain its weapons to confront Israel as
part of a 1989 agreement that ended Lebanons 15-year civil war.
For the moment, Tehrans interest in countering the advances in Iraq and Syria by
Islamic State militants has aligned with the concerns of Washington and Riyadh.
The U.S.-led coalition carrying out airstrikes against the extremist Sunni group in
Iraq and Syria has reportedly agreed not to target forces loyal to Assad. Strikes on
his forces also could hit fighters from Hezbollah and Iran, both firm allies of Assad.
In Lebanon, there also is widening recognition among feuding religious groups of a
need to reinforce the military to counter mounting attacks by militants linked to the
Islamic State and al-Qaedas Syria affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, said Aram Nerguizian,
an expert on Lebanons military and a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
You have a sectarian elite that has no choice but to let the LAF help provide
stability, albeit while kicking and screaming, he said, referring to the Lebanese
Armed Forces.
Hezbollah, strained by the deployment of thousands of its fighters in Syria, has
become increasingly reliant on the army for maintaining domestic stability.
They need the army, and they absolutely realize that, said a Western diplomat
who is based in the region and spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing a lack of
authorization to discuss the subject with the media.
But that relationship has angered many in Lebanons Sunni community, which is
sympathetic to Syrias Sunni-led rebellion.
They accuse the army of taking orders from Hezbollah, citing the militarys refusal
to stop the groups fighters from entering Syria and its confrontations with Sunni
militants tied to the war next door.
In the eastern Bekaa area, the LAF is playing a direct support role for Hezbollah
operations, and, for example, they will deploy to areas that Hezbollah has cleared
and then set up checkpoints, said Tony Badran, a Middle East analyst at the
Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
A divisive offer
So far, Irans military aid has not materialized. There also had been frustration over
the perceived delay in implementing the $3 billion Saudi-French deal.
Brig. Gen. Ali Kanso, a spokesman for Lebanons military, said the army earlier this
year presented a list of desired weapons to Saudi Arabia and France, including tank
ammunition, artillery and gear for counterterrorism operations.
Military officials here hope the $3 billion package dovetails with a decade-long
overhaul that includes the restructuring, under the guidance of U.S. advisers, of the
armys three special forces units. Kanso denied swirling rumors in Beirut that
Washington had warned the military to reject the offer of Iranian arms.
The only tangible military help weve received is from the U.S. and Britain, he said
during an interview last week, adding that Lebanons military has thus far received
merely words and more words from Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The Iranian offer has been especially divisive among Lebanese politicians.
During a visit to Tehran last month, Lebanese Defense Minister Samir Moqbels
delegation declined to formally respond to Irans offer because of concern that
accepting it could violate a 2007 U.N. Security Council resolution restricting that
nations arms trade, said a senior Lebanese diplomat who spoke on the condition of
anonymity, citing a lack of authorization to discuss the subject with the media.
Riyadhs allies in Lebanon suspect that the Iranian weapons could be destined for
Hezbollah. Some of them also suspect that Tehran is more concerned with
countering Saudi Arabias influence than helping the Lebanese military.
Clearly, its a public-relations stunt, said a politician who was a senior official in