WASHINGTON (AFP) — A top American general visited Beirut earlier this week to find out how Washington can better support Lebanon's armed forces during the current crisis, US officials said Thursday.
Lieutenant General Martin Dempsey, the interim commander of Central Command, "talked to the Lebanese government about some of what they might need, what it is that we can provide," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
State Department and Pentagon officials said the visit took place Wednesday, when Washington announced it was speeding up deliveries of aid to the army previously agreed under an existing military assistance program.
A US official said Wednesday that light aid such as personal protective gear, communications equipment and ammunition might be shipped to the army over the next week or two rather than in six weeks, as scheduled.
McCormack, speaking during the daily news briefing, declined to rule out additional US aid.
"I'm not going to foreclose the possibility of anything additional at this point, but I don't have any announcements in that regard," McCormack told reporters.
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the United States has provided 371 million dollars in US security assistance to the Lebanese armed forces and internal security services since September 2006.
Arab mediators announced a deal Thursday aimed at ending a standoff between the US-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition, viewed as part of a wider conflict between US regional allies and their foes in Syria and Iran.
Scores of people died in the worst sectarian fighting to hit Lebanon since a 15-year civil war ended in 1990.
The sectarian violence put the spotlight on the army as the police force is perceived as being pro-government and would have run the risk of being sucked into the fighting if it tried to intervene.
Hezbollah militants withdrew from west Beirut at the weekend and on Tuesday the army announced it would use force if necessary to disarm any remaining gunmen on the streets.
But many in Lebanon believe the army only finally took action -- at a time when the fighting had largely subsided -- after first securing the blessing of Hezbollah and its opposition allies.
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