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Powers to give Lebanon military, economic boost against Syria spillover

04-03-2014 | 13:33

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Powers to give Lebanon military, economic boost against Syria spillover

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France is preparing to seal a multi-billion-dollar plan to help modernise Lebanon's armed forces as part of international efforts to stabilise a country hard hit by spillover from Syria's civil war next door.

At a meeting in Paris on Wednesday, the International Support Group for Lebanon, which includes the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, will also muster more help for almost 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon and create a fund to mitigate the economic fallout from Syria's conflict.

"This group's objective is to avoid the differences that we have on Syria spreading to Lebanon," a French diplomatic source said. "This meeting will provide support for the army, the economy and the refugee crisis."

Lebanon was still recovering from its own 1975-90 civil war when Syria's much bigger conflict erupted in 2011, re-inflaming old sectarian divisions that transcend their common border.

A caretaker government has run Lebanon since last March as parties aligned with the Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah movement and a Sunni Muslim-led rival bloc have pursued a power struggle exacerbated by their support for the opposing sides in Syria.

In an apparent breakthrough last month, Prime Minister Tammam Salam finally managed to pull together a coalition of leaders from across the political spectrum. But it has since been held up by wrangling over a policy statement that must be agreed before a vote of confidence it must get from parliament.

The Paris meeting will however go ahead with the foreign ministers of the five veto-wielding Security Council members - France, United States, Russia, Britain and China - attending.

Saudi Arabia was also invited. It donated $3 billion in December for upgrades to the Lebanese army and asked France to supply weapons using a large proportion of these funds.

No other big Security Council power has yet said what if anything they will offer, although Washington has previously provided assistance to the Lebanese military.

REUTERS

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