Saudi Arabia is giving the Lebanese Army $3 billion in aid, Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman (photo) said on Sunday, calling it the largest grant ever given to the country's Armed Forces.

“The King of the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is offering this generous and appreciated aid of $3 billion to the Lebanese Army to strengthen its capabilities,” Suleiman said in a televised address.

He said the money would be used to buy weapons from France, pointing to the “historical ties that link it to Lebanon and the depth of the military cooperation between the two countries”.

Suleiman did not specify what weapons would be purchased.

Lebanon's Armed Forces have been struggling to deal with violence spreading over the border from Syria's civil war.

The country, which is still rebuilding after its own 15-year civil war, has seen clashes between gunmen loyal to opposing sides of the Syrian conflict, as well as militant attacks on the Army itself.

Lebanon's Army is seen as one of the few institutions not overtaken by sectarian divisions that plague the country. But it is ill-equipped to deal with internal militant groups, particularly Hezbollah which is funded by Iran.

Saudi Arabia may be seeking to bolster the Army as a counterbalance to Hezbollah, seen as the most effective and powerful armed group in Lebanon.

Lebanon's Armed Forces are woefully under-equipped and face multiplying security challenges, underlined by the bomb attack on Friday and rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel on Sunday that prompted return fire from the Jewish state.

Source: Reuters; AFP