Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun. (Credit: Lebanese Army via Twitter)
BEIRUT — Army commander General Joseph Aoun met with a number of officials in Qatar on Saturday to discuss possible cooperation alleys between the two armies, the Lebanese Army announced via Twitter.
During his visit to Doha, Aoun met with the Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, whom the army commander thanked "for all the initiatives that the brotherly Qatar state is doing to help the Lebanese Army" during the crisis.
Aoun also met with Qatari army commander General Salem Al Nabet "as they discussed the cooperation between the two armies and the ways in which Qatar can continue to support the Lebanese Army," the tweet also said.
"The Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and General Salem praised the performance of the Lebanese Army in maintaining stability in Lebanon and protecting its civil peace, in spite of the challenges that the crisis forces in the country."
Qatar granted the LAF financial aid amounting to $60 million earlier this year, which was distributed directly to the soldiers. Each soldier received $100 in cash on top of their regular salaries.
This aid was offered in addition to several tons of food products.
The economic crisis in Lebanon — one of the worst in the world since the mid-1800s, according to the World Bank — has depleted the budget of the state and armed forces, and plunged most of the country into poverty.
The current average salary of a soldier amounts to less than $100 per month. Prior to the crisis, the average soldier's salary stood closer to $800 per month.
The army regularly receives aid from foreign countries, most recently from the US, Italy, Turkey and now Qatar.
In the same context, the Turkish government sent a donation of 46 containers of food products to Lebanon, where it will be distributed to the different security services, the National News Agency reported.
The shipment arrived Saturday afternoon at the port of Tripoli, in North Lebanon.
The Turkish ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Barış Ulusoy, said upon receiving the containers that caretaker Najib Mikati's visit to Turkey in February "strengthened the relations between Lebanon and Turkey in all ways and created an important opportunity to intensify the Turkish support to Lebanon in the tough period it's going through."