U.S. aid to Lebanon up 16-fold

U.S. assistance to Lebanon increased 16-fold this year to bolster its fledgling democracy. In a statement Tuesday, the State Department said Congress had appropriated $769.5 million for Lebanon this year, as opposed to less than $50 million in previous years. “This large increase in U.S. assistance for Lebanon reflects the support of the United States Government – its Administration and Congress – for the people of Lebanon,” the statement said, referring to challenges that the Western-leaning prime minister, Fouad Siniora, has faced from Syria, radical Islamists and the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, which launched a war against Israel last summer against Siniora’s wishes. More than half of the appropriated $769.5 million, as well an additional $30.6 million from a separate appropriation, goes to supporting Lebanon’s military, law enforcement and international peacekeepers charged with preventing Hezbollah from launching another war on Israel. The United States also is expediting the delivery of arms purchased by the Lebanese government. Separately, the State Department announced an emergency cash infusion of $3.5 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, the principle body dealing with Palestinian refugees, arising from the crisis created by clashes in Palestinian refugee camps between Islamist extremists and Lebanese forces.