(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, JANUARY 9 - Two hundred M113 armoured
vehicles for troop transport donated by the US to Lebanon were
offloaded in Beirut's port today. With this delivery,
Washington's military aid to the country over the past six
months has risen to 140 million dollars, while between 2006 and
2011 a total of 700 million was provided. Lebanon has thus
become the tenth largest nation recipient of military aid from
the United States, which is trying to ward off the danger of
Lebanon getting caught up in the ongoing violence in
neighbouring Syria.
The supplies, underscored a US diplomat in the Lebanese capital,
will improve the Lebanese armed forces' ''ability to respond to
the crisis''. This is an ever more urgent need, given the
clashes which in 2012 saw Shia supporters of the Syrian regime
and Sunni opposition groups face off in Lebanon as well. And
this did not only occur in the northern city of Tripoli, but
also in Beirut's suburbs and in the southern city of Sidon.
Iran's ability to influence Lebanese politics has been boosted
since June 2011, when the current government under Prime
Minister Najib Miqati was sworn in. Playing a dominant role in
the government is Hezbollah, the Party of God close to Syria and
Iran, whose militias (armed by the latter two countries) are
powerful enough militarily to compete with that of the regular
army. The Syrian opposition has also accused Hezbollah and Iran
of taking an active part in the crackdown of the uprising. Both
deny the accusations. (ANSAmed)
