Saudi Arabia halts $3bn military support for Lebanese army

Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that it has halted its $3 billion military programme in support of the Lebanese army in response to Beirut’s latest “unjustified” stances on Arab and international platforms, Anadolu has reported. The government in Riyadh has also decided to block a further $1 billion in aid, which is the remainder of a programme in support of Lebanon’s internal security services.

According to the official Saudi news agency SPA, these decisions were made after the government conducted a “thorough review” of Saudi-Lebanese relations. According to Riyadh, Lebanon has taken “regrettable and unjustified” positions recently which are not in line with the “fraternal relations” between the two countries.

An unnamed Saudi official claimed that the “so-called Hezbollah” has “confiscated” the will of Lebanon and is taking the lead against the kingdom, as well as other Arab and Islamic nations. During recent meetings of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, Lebanon failed to condemn “the blatant attacks on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Mashhad, which are contrary to international law and diplomatic norms,” the official added.

At the same time, though, he did not overlook the positive remarks made by individual Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Tammam Salam, who expressed his support and solidarity with Saudi Arabia. Relations between Riyadh and the people of Lebanon are always being reinforced, stressed the spokesman.

The Saudi government signed an agreement in November 2014, according to which the French would supply arms to the Lebanese army worth $3 billion, to be paid for by the oil-rich kingdom. Three months before the agreement was signed, the then Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri announced $1 billion of support from Riyadh following clashes on the Lebanon-Syria border.