PARIS, November 4 (RIA Novosti) — France and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement on the supply of weapons for the Lebanese Armed Forces, French Foreign Ministry said in an official statement Tuesday.
"I welcome the signing of the contract to assist the Lebanese army. The agreement, financed by a Saudi donation will help strengthen the Lebanese army, which guarantees the unity and stability of Lebanon," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was quoted as saying.
"It will help fulfill its [the army's] mission of homeland defense and the fight against terrorism, while Lebanon is threatened," he added.
The Lebanese city of Tripoli has seen clashes between Sunni militants and the Lebanese Alawite Shiite minority following the spillover of the civil war in Syria in 2011 into Lebanon.
Local Islamist militants which are reportedly linked to the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups regularly attack army patrols and block roads.
Although the Islamic State does not control territory in Lebanon, the militant group occupies areas in remote eastern Lebanese mountains from where it launches attacks.
