Gen. Aoun Meets Military Commanders in Rome, Presents Army 'Needs'
On the sidelines of the Rome II Conference, Lebanese Army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun attended a meeting with the Italian military commanders where he gave a detailed presentation on the needs of the army, which the Italian side "responded greatly" to its combat needs, al-Joumhuria daily reported Friday.
According to sources following up closely on the Rome conference, “the army commander was busy with meetings on the second day. He met with several Italian military figures who hailed the role of the army and expressed support for the institution.”
They said the Italian air force commander told Aoun that Italy is prepared for the training of Lebanese pilots.
Italian General Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Claudio Graziano has “warmly welcomed Aoun,” emphasizing “deep relations” between the Lebanese and Italian armies, referring to his experience in Lebanon through his command of the UNIFIL forces, the sources told the daily.
An official dinner was held in honor of the Lebanese military delegation.
The Italian side revealed that it benefited from the experience of the Lebanese army in the task of maintaining and spreading security at home, using Lebanese plans to deploy 7,000 Italian troops to control security and help other security forces.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri led a delegation to Rome comprised of ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs; the chiefs of the army, Internal Security Forces and General Security; Lebanon's ambassador to Italy; the director of his office Nader Hariri; his adviser on military affairs retired Brig. Gen. Maroun Hitti and a large number of officers.
The delegation is carrying a comprehensive plan that will be presented to the participating countries in Rome II conference with the aim of supporting the army and the security forces for a period of five years.
In addition to host country Italy, the participants in the conference are the U.S., France, Germany, Britain, Spain, Russia, Canada, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Argentina, Brazil, Armenia, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Algeria, Morocco, Oman, the Arab League, the EU and the U.N., as well as the NATO alliance as an observer.
The conference kicked off on Thursday at 4:00 pm Beirut time with a speech by Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. Speeches by Hariri and U.N. chief Antonio Guterres followed.
