PARIS
Lebanon is expecting delivery of $1 billion worth of arms from France “in the coming days,” former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday after talks with French President Francois Hollande.
Lebanon was promised Saudi Arabian aid last year to help support its army and in August $1 billion was funneled to the French arms dea,l although this has been delayed by negotiations between Paris and Riyadh.
Speaking at a press conference following his Elysee Palace meeting with Hollande, Hariri said: “The $1 billion donation is finalized and some equipment will arrive in Lebanon soon.”
He added that he had discussed the power vacuum in his country with Hollande. Lebanon has been without a president since May, when Michel Suleiman’s term ended.
Hariri said the presidential election is a "priority" for his Future Movement party and the country.
“We should have the presidential election first and then come parliamentary elections,” he went on.
Commenting on U.S.-led airstrikes on ISIL in Iraq and Syria, Hariri said: "We don’t want strategic strikes but painful strikes for these terrorists who don’t know God and have nothing to do with Islam."
www.aa.com.tr/en
