Hale says M-60 tanks will arrive in spring, make LAF heartier
The United States plans to deliver M-60 tanks to Lebanon in spring next year as part of a commitment to help the country”s army, a senior US State Department official said in Beirut on Friday.
David Hale, US deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, denied the US is in competition with Russia, which announced Wednesday that it would give Lebanon 10 MiG-29 fighter jets.
"Support for the Lebanese Armed Forces [LAF] remains a pillar of our Lebanon policy," he told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, without saying how many tanks the US would supply.
"We are working to provide the training and equipment the LAF needs … to maintain internal security and to fight terrorism in Lebanon," Hale added.
In addition to supplying the tanks, the US is "preparing a new package of assistance including close air-support capabilities with precision weapons and urban-combat gear, much of which will also be provided in the spring of 2009."
The United States has pledged $410 million in military aid to the LAF since 2006 but this has been limited to light weapons and vehicles.
Hale said Russia”s announcement Wednesday was "a signal of strong international support for Lebanon, for its institutions, for the Lebanese Armed Forces."
"There is no competition," he added.
The 15-week battle the army fought against Islamists in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in 2007 left over 160 Lebanese soldiers dead and highlighted the need for improved military equipment and capabilities.
Hale also met with President Michel Sleiman in Baabda on Friday and stressed what he called his country”s "continuous support" for Lebanon. Hale added that the new US administration had the same stance with regard to Lebanon.
The talks touched on the occupied portion of the Southern village of Ghajar, which Hale had also discussed with Israeli officials in the foreign and defense ministries.
Sleiman stressed the need for Israeli to withdraw from the Lebanese part of the village in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
He added that any direct or indirect negotiations with Israel could not take place, "unless they were within the framework of the final and comprehensive peace process in the region as stated by the Security Council and the Arab initiative."
Hale also met Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Elias Murr affirmed Thursday Moscow has not placed any restrictions on the use by Lebanon of 10 MiG-29 fighter jets pledged by Russia.
Murr, in a television audio interview from Russia, said missions assigned to the MiG-29s in the future would be decided by the Lebanese Cabinet.
He explained that the Kremlin would donate the MiG-29 squadron from the Russian arsenal and Lebanese pilots would fly them home after training in Russia.
"The Russians explained to us that the training period for the MiG-29 is eight months; there should be no problem for our brilliant air force pilots in training" on the jets, Murr said.
He argued that the political significance of the Russian donation, which the Cabinet would be "glad to accept," is that it has set a rule for foreign donors dealing with Lebanon.
"Any military donation to Lebanon by a foreign power should not be less than the level of the MiG-29s," Murr said.