Hollande pledges financial, military aid to Lebanon during visit

BEIRUT (AFP) — French President Francois Hollande on Saturday pledged financial and military support for Lebanon and urged its paralyzed political class to elect a president, at the start of a regional tour.

Deep political divisions have left Lebanon without a president since May 2014, and parliament has extended its own mandate twice since 2009.

Beginning a four-day Middle East tour, Hollande met Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

He announced 100 million euros ($113 million) in assistance in the next three years for Lebanon which is hosting more than one million Syrian refugees, as well as “immediate aid to strengthen Lebanon’s military capacity.”

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia suspended a grant to finance $3 billion worth of French weaponry for Lebanon’s security forces.

The Lebanese army and police receive weapons and training from the United States, Britain and other Western countries.

On the political front, Hollande said it was time for Lebanese leaders to overcome their differences.

“This is a crucial moment, because you need to resolve this crisis and give Lebanon a president,” Hollande said after meeting Berri in downtown Beirut.

“I believe in you and I know that you will succeed,” he added.

Hollande told a news conference that he recognized “the particularly difficult circumstances” facing Lebanon because of the conflict in neighboring Syria.

The large refugee community means that Lebanon — whose own population is just over four million — has the highest refugee-to-resident population in the world.

“In addition to… facing terrorist threats, Lebanon has hosted and continues to host a very high number of refugees,” Hollande said.

Berri said it was necessary “to find a political solution to lift the burden” created by the refugee population on the country.

On Sunday, the French leader will travel to an refugee camp for Syrians in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley to speak to families who will be resettled in France.

France hosts more than 10,000 refugees.

Hollande said France “will mobilise the international community”, with Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault working on an international donors’ meeting.

The French president’s entourage said Ayrault would visit Lebanon on May 27 as part of this effort.

It is Hollande’s second visit to Lebanon since 2012. He will travel on to Egypt on Sunday afternoon and then Jordan after his two-day visit to Lebanon.

In Cairo, he is expected to discuss with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi both the political crisis in Egypt’s western neighbor Libya and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

His visit to Jordan on Tuesday will take him to the Prince Hassan air base, 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Amman.

French aircraft taking part in the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria are stationed at the base.