U.S. delivers more police equipment to Lebanon
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The United States delivered 60 new vehicles to Lebanon's security forces on Thursday, as part of Washington's pledge to help the country's fragile government as it fights Hezbollah. The State Department said the 60 sport utility vehicles, equipped with sirens and police lights, were in addition to 2,000 sets of riot control equipment delivered over the past month to the Lebanese Internal Security Forces. The riot control kits include pepper spray, batons, binoculars, boots, duffel bags and other protective gear, a State Department official said. "This assistance will help support a Lebanese Internal Security Force capable of protecting Lebanon's territory, sovereignty and dignity," said a statement from the State Department. Lebanon's armed forces are deployed alongside U.N. peacekeepers sent to the south of the country after last year's war between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel. The United States has made clear it wants to support the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora both politically and militarily as it faces a challenge from the Hezbollah-led opposition. The United States pledged nearly $770 million in aid to help rebuild Lebanon and bolster Siniora at an international aid conference for Lebanon in Paris last month. That funding needs U.S. congressional equipment and comes on top of $230 million that Washington promised last year. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Lebanon's former President Amine Gemayel, whose son former Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel was assassinated last year, the latest in a string of political killings. "I again am very sorry for the brutal death of your son," Rice told the former president. "Mourned by everyone and not just the Lebanese but also by the American people," she added.
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