Lebanon National Day

Press Statement
Rex W. Tillerson
Washington, DC
November 21, 2017

On behalf of the American people, I wish to pass along my warmest regards and congratulations to the people of Lebanon on the anniversary of your independence on November 22.

The United States looks forward to strengthening its friendship and cooperation with Lebanon as we work together to pursue our common goals and advance Lebanon's sovereignty, stability, and independence. We reaffirm our support for Lebanese state institutions and appreciate our close partnership in addressing shared regional challenges, particularly the fight against terrorism.

Our enduring commitment to the Lebanese people will remain strong as Lebanon works to fulfill the aspirations of all Lebanese for a prosperous and secure future. Once again, please accept our best wishes to all of Lebanon on this historic occasion

Statement from the White House Press Secretary on the Political Situation in Lebanon

By U.S. Embassy Beirut | 11 November, 2017 | Topics: Press Releases
The United States calls upon all states and parties to respect Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes. In this sensitive time, the United States also rejects any efforts by militias within Lebanon or by any foreign forces to threaten Lebanon's stability, undermine Lebanese government institutions, or use Lebanon as a base from which to threaten others in the region.
Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri has been a trusted partner of the United States in strengthening Lebanese institutions, fighting terrorism, and protecting refugees. The United States firmly reiterates that the Lebanese Armed Forces and other Lebanese state security forces are the only legitimate security authorities in Lebanon.

On the Situation in Lebanon

Press Statement

Rex W. Tillerson
Washington, DC
November 10, 2017
The United States strongly supports the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Lebanon and of its political institutions. The United States urges all parties both within Lebanon and outside to respect the integrity and independence of Lebanon's legitimate national institutions, including the Government of Lebanon and the Lebanese Armed Forces. In this regard, we respect Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri as a strong partner of the United States.
The United States supports the stability of Lebanon and is opposed to any actions that could threaten that stability. There is no legitimate place or role in Lebanon for any foreign forces, militias or armed elements other than the legitimate security forces of the Lebanese state – which must be recognized as the sole authority for security in Lebanon. The United States cautions against any party, within or outside Lebanon, using Lebanon as a venue for proxy conflicts or in any manner contributing to instability in that country.

U.S. Ambassador Richard Meets Army Commander General Joseph Aoun

Today, Ambassador Elizabeth Richard, accompanied by Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs Ms. Heidi Grant, met with LAF Commander Joseph Aoun to announce the U.S. Government's reimbursement of $42.9 million for LAF Border Operations.

The following are her remarks at the meeting:

"Thank you General Aoun and thank you everybody for being with us; and a special thanks to Ms. Heidi Grant for coming to Lebanon.  She is the Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, and she comes to Lebanon following the arrival, just two weeks ago, of the Super Tucano A-29 attack aircrafts, to further advance the LAF's development of the Air Force; and so we are just delighted to have her here to continue this path that we and the Lebanese Armed Forces are on together to develop the capabilities of the force.

I also wanted to take a minute today to take the opportunity to also announce the recent delivery of a significant amount of funding that was just transferred from the Department of Defense to the Government of Lebanon, through the Ministry of Finance.  This funding, in the amount of $42.9 million, is part of a Border Operations Reimbursement Program, through which the Government of Lebanon can request reimbursement for some of the LAF's costs in securing the Lebanese borders, particularly in the LAF's fight against ISIS and other extremist groups.

As we have seen, the LAF has done an excellent job stopping the advance of these groups into Lebanon's northeast border and the Army continues to prevent their spread into and throughout the country.  So this reimbursement to the Government of Lebanon was based on invoices that were prepared by the Lebanese Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Ministry of Defense and the Army for this year.

The U.S. Government and the U.S. Embassy are looking forward to coordinating with the Government of Lebanon and with the Army regarding the use of these reimbursed funds.

I want to say here that the United States remains committed to a stable, secure, democratic, and prosperous Lebanon.  We are very proud of all our efforts across the country to help the people of Lebanon, through education, through micro-finance for startups for support to small and medium businesses, and programs that help improve the agricultural sector, electricity, our solar energy projects, and water; and there is so much more.  We are very proud of all of that we are doing to help the Lebanese people, and I want to say today that we are particularly proud of our partnership with the Lebanese Army.  So thank you very, very much General Aoun and all the team for what you are doing.  I am very, very happy to be here and very happy to have Ms. Grant here."