Lebanon criticized the US decision to suspend military aid over concerns that Hezbollah may have influence over the army, saying Tuesday it was unwarranted and weakens American-backed efforts to build up its national forces. The chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Howard Berman, said Monday he suspended $100m in assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces on Aug. 2. “The US government is quite familiar with the reliability and importance of the Lebanese armed forces as a central institution in our country's quest for peace and security and for asserting state authority throughout the country,” Mohamed Chatah, an adviser to Prime Minister Hariri, told The Associated Press. “The last thing that the US or any other friend of Lebanon should do is to weaken the effort to build up our national army.” He added that government officials were contacting Washington “to make sure that there is a better and fuller understanding of the situation in Lebanon and along the border.” The Congressman Berman said his concerns about Hezbollah's influence over the Lebanese armed forces were reinforced a day after he suspended the aid when Israeli and Lebanese army forces clashed along their common border. Hezbollah and the Lebanese army both insisted the militant group did not take part in the clash, and the State Department said Monday there was no evidence American-supplied equipment had been used by Lebanese soldiers. It said it was not yet clear whether the soldiers involved had received US military training. Ex-general charged with spying for Israel Meanwhile, Lebanon's military court on Tuesday charged a former army general and high-profile member of a Christian party allied with Hezbollah with spying for Israel, a judicial source said. “Military prosecutor Sakr Sakr charged retired general Fayez Karam with collaborating with enemy (Israeli) intelligence and providing it with information on Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM),” said the Shiite party's key Christian ally. Karam is charged with meeting Israeli officials outside of Lebanon and passing on information secured through meetings between his FPM party and Hezbollah in exchange for money, the source added.
