Lebanon, UN mull enhancement of Lebanese army

The UN office here hosted a meeting on Monday to discuss ways for international contribution to the five-year assistance plan for the Lebanese Armed Forces. The meeting gathered Commander of the Lebanese Army Gen. Jean Kahwaji, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly and Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Maj.-Gen. Paolo Serra, as well as representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. During the meeting Plumbly called on international donors to increase support to the Lebanese army given the fact that army faces challenging conditions and suffers from shortage of resources. He noted that the meeting provided a chance for briefing the countries, represented, as well as the countries contributing to the UNIFIL, on the security situation in Lebanon. He reminded the conferees of the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on July 10, relating to the international assistance to the Lebanese army. On his part, Maj.-Gen. Paolo Serra, of Italy, reaffirmed the UNIFIL's commitment to discharging its mandate under the UNSC Resolution No. 1701. The five-year assistance plan for the Lebanese Armed Forces, approved by the Lebanese parliament on September 19, 2012, and launched by the Lebanese Army Command (LAF) in mid-May, 2013, costs up to USD 1.6 billion. (end)