Italian PM Letta Arrives in Beirut Friday to Tackle Support to Lebanese Army
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta is expected to arrive in Beirut on Friday to hold talks with senior officials and to prepare for an international conference to provide the Lebanese army with the help it needs to boost its performance.
Local newspaper reported on Friday that the Italian Premier will hold talks with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and his Lebanese counterpart Najib Miqati.
The talks are expected to focus on a conference set to boost the aid for the Lebanese army, which will be held in Rome.
The Italian PM will inspect during his two-day his country's UNIFIL contingent, where he will meet with UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Paolo Serra.
Letta is also scheduled meet with Syrian refugees in Lebanon, which is hosting more than 825,000 registered refugees, but likely closer to a million in total, representing a quarter of its population.
The borders have remained open, but the government has refused to allow the establishment of formal refugee camps.
Sources said that France is seeking to hold a meeting for the International Support Group on Lebanon at the beginning of the year 2014.
The sources said that President Suleiman will head the Lebanese delegation to the meeting that will be held in Paris.
In September the International Support Group on Lebanon said that the country faces an explosion of social tensions unless the international community helps to handle hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.
Suleiman told foreign ministers from the world's leading nations that his country faces an "existential crisis" because of the influx fleeing the war between President Bashar Assad and opposition rebels.
He told the International Support Group for Lebanon that major financing was needed to pay for the refugees, reinforce public services because of the burden and bolster the army.
The Syria conflict will cost Lebanon $7.5 billion from 2012 to 2014, according to an estimate given by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to the meeting held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced $74 million dollars of extra humanitarian assistance for Lebanon in a meeting with Suleiman on Tuesday. The U.S. administration is negotiating with Congress to find another $30 million.
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