Qahwaji Travels to Washington to Attend Counter-Terrorism Meetings

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji is scheduled to travel to the United States to attend several meetings on combating terrorism, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

It said that the military chief will participate in meetings throughout next week with leaderships specialized in counter-terrorism.

Qahwaji will travel to Washington on Sunday.

The meetings will focus on means to bolster cooperation between the Lebanese and American armies and on the U.S. arming of the Lebanese army, added the Kuwaiti al-Anba daily on Sunday.

Qahwaji seeks to purchase military equipment for the army from a recently announced $1 billion Saudi grant to Lebanon, media reports said earlier this week.

The military commander will later head to Saudi Arabia to follow up on the $3 billion arms deal for Lebanon.

The deal is for military equipment and arms to be supplied to Lebanon's army.

On Wednesday, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced that his country will soon provide arms to Lebanon as party of the $3 billion deal after all conditions “have been met.”

The two arms deal come as Lebanon faces the threat of jihadists on its border with Syria.