QATAR PROVIDES LEBANON’S ARMY WITH $60 MILLION

Sun 03 July 2022:

Energy-rich Qatar has given Lebanon’s cash-strapped military forces $60 million, according to the Doha Foreign Ministry.

“The announcement comes within the framework of the State of Qatar’s firm commitment to support the Republic of Lebanon,” the ministry said in a statement.

Lebanon is facing an unparalleled financial crisis, one of the world’s worst since the 1850s, according to the World Bank.

The economic downturn has eroded the value of soldiers’ pay and reduced the military’s budget for upkeep and equipment.

Due to growing food prices, Lebanon’s army announced in 2020 that it had removed beef from the meals served to on-duty soldiers.

A Lebanese military official told AFP on Thursday that Qatari financial aid would help pay the salaries of Lebanese soldiers.

Qatar made the news while Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani was in Lebanon.

The aid, Qatar said, reflects Doha’s support for the “brotherly Lebanese people and its firm belief in the importance and necessity of joint Arab action.”

In July 2021, year, Qatar announced it would supply Lebanon’s army with 70 tonnes of foodstuff per month for a year.

Lebanon’s financial crisis has been widely blamed on corruption and mismanagement by the ruling elite that has dominated the country since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990.

International donors, including wealthy Gulf Arab nations, have preconditioned assistance on key reforms being implemented.

The International Monetary Fund stated in April that a conditional deal to provide Lebanon with $3 billion in aid had been reached.

However, it emphasized that aid to help the economy recover was conditional on the implementation of reforms, including a financial recovery plan.

Following a diplomatic spat last year over the growing dominance of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, some of Lebanon’s Gulf Arab partners have also withheld assistance.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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