Salam Urges Quick Delivery of French Helicopters, Warns of 'Refugee Revolt'
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربيةPrime Minister Tammam Salam has called on France to speed up the delivery of military helicopters to the Lebanese army as part of the $1 billion Saudi grant to Lebanon, as he warned that Syrian refugees in the country might stage a “revolt” over the international community's insufficient support.
“We're still conducting talks to receive the helicopters in the beginning of the (army's equipment) program instead of its final stages, so that we can use (helicopter-mounted) missiles against the jihadists who are deployed in the mountains,” Salam told the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
“Daesh is present in the Arsal region on the Lebanese-Syrian border, and if it manages to invade Lebanon, it will impose its extremism in all places,” Salam warned, using the Arabic acronym for the extremist Islamic State group which has seized vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.
The premier also described the airstrikes of the U.S.-led coalition against the IS and al-Nusra Front militants in Syria as "symbolic and insufficient."
"To defeat them, you must be present on the ground, but who wants to go there at this stage,” Salam added.
The first shipment of French weapons, part of a $3 billion Saudi grant, is expected to arrive in Lebanon within the next two months.
As for the kingdom's $1 billion grant to the army, a military official has revealed to al-Mustaqbal newspaper that the first shipment will begin arriving in Lebanon within “two to three weeks.”
He expected helicopters and Cessna jets to be included in this shipment.
France and Saudi Arabia signed an arms agreement at the beginning of November for Paris to provide the Lebanese military with the $3 billion worth of weapons paid for by Riyadh.
The deal, which was first announced in December 2013, aims at boosting the army as it struggles to contain a rising tide of violence linked to the civil war in Syria.
In August, head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri unveiled an additional $1 billion grant to the Lebanese army, in the wake of deadly clashes between troops and jihadist militants in and around the Bekaa border town of Arsal.
As for the issue of the refugee crisis in Lebanon, Salam warned that “no one truly understands the fragility of our situation.”
“If they don't feed the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, we will face a very alarming situation, perhaps a revolt,” the PM cautioned.
Lebanon has been struggling to support the burden of around 1.5. million Syrian refugees that have been pouring into the country since the eruption of the Syrian conflict in March 2011.
The government recently introduced restrictions on refugees in an attempt to limit their numbers.
Lebanon has all but shut its frontiers to new refugees, allowing only humanitarian exceptions across, and the state is beyond its absorption capacities and urgently needs other countries to share its burden.
Earlier this week, Lebanon and the United Nations launched a plan that calls for an estimated $2.1 billion to help the country cope with the fallout from the conflict in neighboring Syria.
The Crisis Response Plan for Lebanon, announced Monday, outlines the priorities of the government and international community over the next two years.
It aims to deliver humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees while also expanding plans to invest in services and institutions in the most affected areas. It hopes to reach some 2.9 million people, half of them Lebanese.
According to Central Bank of Lebanon statistics, the country faces a financial burden of $4.5 billion because of the refugee crisis.
Y.R.
Assad should take back his beloved refugees who apparently queued for hours at their embassy doors to re-elect him with 95% approval rating.
They will go back, when the takfiris your lovers funded, are gone and vanished to dust.
You seem to forget about the refugees, that are actually pro Resistance, which is alot of them.
I see that the army should be armed, without any conditions, the Saudis on the other hand will never arm the LAF, aslong as they are fighting the gulf-backed takfiris.
If Geagea became President, the Saudi/french deal would arrive the next day. That is their real conditions, not for the sake of the LAF.
let saudi take back their takfiris, and i'm sure all these refugees would be glad to go home.
Only traitors, are the people selling the country out to Israel, USA and Abu Bakr Baghdadi, that is you people. Hellfire rockets, yeah right. Cessna jets? Stinger rockets and Strela will easily shoot them down.
seeing the level of your answers, there is no need for me to guess to know you aren't burdened with an overabundance of arguments.
LOL when out of arguments (which is more or less all the time) eagleyawn steals my lines. i take it as a compliment.
i'd return the compliment, but you never posted anything worth copying. sorry.
Lebanon should just put these refugees on ships and sail towards Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Europe and let them shoulder their responsibilities.
The premier also described the airstrikes of the U.S.-led coalition against the IS and al-Nusra Front militants in Syria as "symbolic and insufficient."
Atleast our Prime Minister, admits it. Instead of waiting for the Saudis false deal, he should call upon Iran, to arm LAF Asap.
Hellfire missiles? Right Texas, how will those be used without the drones hmm.
Why didn't the americans give the LAF some real tanks, instead of old rusty M113's junk. An RPG will burst right through the LAF APCs, which has happend alot lately.
Iran would provide all the weaponry necessary, to combat these takfiri foreign backed elements. Not propaganda, but purely tactical to ensure the stability of the region. So we can finally crush the takfiris, and focus on Israel only.
m14 rejected the iranian offer. can't expect them to deliver after we said no, can we?
and where did you see that hellfires and shells were delivered?
texas moron, it never gets done with you. You are the person, that wants to discuss, when there is nothing to discuss about like a woman seeking attention.
Hellfire rockets, are useless without any real aircraft dropping them. Cessna is garbage, and will not drop them precisly. Why does the Americans not provide the LAF, more advanced aircraft for such purposes? Because of Israel ofcourse.
these two paid trolls seem to know everything there is to know. Disgrace to human intelligence.
As an expatriate living in Sweden for the last 12 years trying to make a decent living I was under the distinct impression that hellfire missiles and ammunition were already delivered to the LAF. I remember reading it on news websites with photos of planes landing the ammo and rockets at beirut airport. But, in reading mowaten's and mystic's comments above, I am convinced this never happened. I must thank those two commenters for revealing the truth and setting the record straight.
I respect Mr. and Mrs. Mystic, Mr. and Miss Flamethrower, and their domestic helper Miss Southern.
He is well aware of that fact. We all are, but M14 loves to deny we have any ISIS or Nusra present in Lebanon, they want Lebanon as a part of the "caliphate"
when the Lebanon army join forces with ISIL to fight the HA terrorism in the region!!!???
why don't they send back the refugees to syria where it is calm? anyone can go to damascus without any pb... oh! yes, bashar prefers Lebanon to deal with that as usual...
Mr. PM, you're a good man, a decent man, the choppers will come, the weapons will come and if these darn refugees wish to revolt, then let them, maybe you will see them hand by lamp posts. We too, we the Lebanese have reached that last drop, we too, if we revolt, there will be NOT one refugee standing. Let them try!