According to the report, French Defense Minister Herve Moran sent a letter to his Lebanese counterpart Elias Murr offering to sell Lebanon 100 HOT anti-tank missiles to be armed on the Gazelle helicopters already in use by Lebanese Armed Forces.
A French source quoted by the paper blamed a delay in the delivery of the HOT missiles due to "confusion" in the Lebanese defense establishment.
France' sale of weapons to the LAF comes at a time when Washington has grown increasingly skittish over the issue of funding and arming the Lebanese military over concerns that the LAF may become engaged in a fight with Israel, an American ally, or be co-opted by Hezbollah.
The US State Department has been working since early August to allay the concerns of members of Congress who have put a hold on funding to the Lebanese military following the deadly border incident that left an Israeli occupation Lieutenant Colonel dead and two Lebanese army soldiers martyred along with one Lebanese journalist.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley has defended US military assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces as something that’s “in [the US's] national interest and contributes to stability in the region.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi expressed on Wednesday his country’s readiness to offer military aid to Lebanon, one day after Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah called on the Lebanese government to take the decision to ask Iran for help in equipping the national army.
"Lebanon is a friend and its army is our friend," General Vahidi told reporters after an Iranian cabinet meeting, state television reported on its website. "We are prepared to help them ... should there be a request."
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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