End of Syrian Aid Leaves Lebanese Army Short of Supplies By RIAD KAHWAJI, BEIRUT http://www.defensenews.com
Syria has cut off all links with the Lebanese Army, leaving the latter with acute shortages in ammunition and spare parts for Soviet-built vehicles, according to Lebanese military sources here.
“As of late June, the Syrian military has ceased all contacts and cooperation with the Lebanese Army,” said a senior military official. “This action has had a severe consequence on the Lebanese military, which has been largely dependent for the past few years on Syrian supplies of ammunition.”
After Lebanon’s civil war ended in 1990, the official said, the United States and European countries had provided Lebanon with mostly nonlethal weapons before they stopped supplying the country with any hardware, including ammunition for old weapons Lebanon purchased in the mid-1980s.



Aside from “a small contribution from Libya, Syria was the only country that provided Lebanon with good quantities of lethal weapons,” the official said — mostly Soviet-built T-54/55 tanks, 130mm howitzers, some multiple rocket launchers and AK-47 assault rifles.
“Ammunition for most weapons used to be provided by Syria until recently, and whatever the Lebanese Army has in stock would hardly be enough for a week or two in case of an all-out confrontation against a major threat,” he said.
The deterioration of Syrian-Lebanese relations became more apparent to the public Aug. 1 during Lebanese Army Day celebrations, which for the first time in three decades did not include a Syrian military delegation.
“The Syrian command turned down an invitation by the Lebanese Army commander to attend the Army Day celebrations,” the official said. “The Syrians have also suspended all training courses for Lebanese officers and troops at Syrian facilities.”
Observers have interpreted the Syrian military action as part of wider measures taken by Syrian leaders in the past few weeks, apparently to punish Beirut for harsh anti-Syrian statements made by some officials and media here following the February assassination of former Lebanese Premier Raficq Hariri and the subsequent Syrian pullout from Lebanon.
Among other punitive measures, Damascus had closed the borders with Lebanon for hundreds of trucks carrying goods and products from Lebanese ports bound for Arab countries.
Syria’s diminishing role in Lebanon has opened the way for the United States and France to play a bigger role in the country’s affairs, including assisting the military.
“There have been some reports from reliable sources about U.S. efforts to get Egypt to supply the Lebanese Army with arms, ammunition and training,” said Ahmad Timsah, a security analyst based here. “Egypt can provide Lebanon with spare parts and ammunition from its big arsenal of Soviet-era tanks and ammunition factories.”
Both the U.S. and Egyptian embassies in Beirut have declined comment on the reports.
The Lebanese Army Command has been pressing for more U.S. military aid in the form of equipment and defense systems to help modernize the 70,000-man force’s aging vehicles and other hardware.
U.S. Embassy sources here have said that Washington has shown increased interest in the past few weeks in upgrading the Lebanese Army to increase its readiness and capabilities.
Lebanon received annual U.S. military aid from 1983-84 and in the early 1990s. But the United States stopped such aid in 1997, after Lebanon joined ranks with Syria and refused to show more flexibility in peace talks that began with Israel in 1991, said Timsah, a retired Lebanese Air Force brigadier general.
“Currently the Lebanese Army only receives $700,000 in annual U.S. military training funds, plus some assistance in mine-clearing operations in south Lebanon,” said a U.S. diplomat here. “The size of annual military aid should definitely be increased in the coming years.”
The American diplomat pointed out that the Lebanese Army command had displayed a “high level of professionalism” in dealing with recent political conflict in the country, showing that the Army is reliable enough to be counted on in restoring peace and order to Lebanon.
Syria and Lebanon in the 1990s signed a comprehensive treaty that included defense cooperation.
However, the two countries never put any of their pacts in proper use, according to officials at the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council, the body in charge of overseeing the implementation of the treaties between the two countries.
“Syrian and Lebanese officials preferred to maintain relations between the two states on a personal level, rather than go through the proper official channels as called for by the treaties,” said Nasri Khouri, the council’s secretary-general.
“After the Syrians pulled out of Lebanon and personal relations soured between some Lebanese and Syrian officials, cooperation on various levels, including the military, came to a halt because none of the ties were built within their proper framework.”
Khouri said he had frequently suggested to the leaders of both countries methods of normalizing and improving military ties between their two armies. “All my proposals were ignored, and here is the result today. Relations on the military level and all levels between the two states have collapsed.”
Many officials and experts in both countries have called for reforming the ties between the two states and for giving the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council a wider role.
Fouad Seniora, Lebanon’s new prime minister, held talks July 31 with Syrian leaders in Damascus.
After the talks, Seniora announced the start of a new page in relations between the two states, noting that all treaties between the two countries would be reviewed.
As a sign of improved relations, Damascus reopened on Aug. 1 its borders to Lebanese truckers.
Seniora’s visit to Damascus was the first by a Lebanese premier since Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon in late April, ending 29 years of military presence and political hegemony.
“The Lebanese Army commander was keen to mention in his Army Day speech the need to maintain good relations with the Syrian Army,” Timsah said. “We hope the Syrians see the benefit in maintaining cooperation with Lebanon.”