Qatar to provide food aid for Lebanese soldiers amid economic crisis
July 7, 2021: According to the Qatari state news agency QNA, Qatar will provide 70 tons of food a month to the Lebanese armed forces, as Lebanon seeks help during the worst economic and political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Lebanese Army Chief Joseph Aoun called on world powers at a meeting in France last month to help the troops, whose wages have fallen as the Lebanese pound has plummeted and inflation has risen. The Qatari donation was announced on Tuesday during Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani’s visit to Beirut. QNA did not provide details about the food aid offered.
Sheikh Mohammed urged Lebanese parties to form a new government “to achieve stability”, the QNA said. Lebanese politicians have spent months wandering around agreeing on a new government that is needed to open up international aid. Lebanon’s cabinet resigned after a bomb blast at the port of Beirut in August last year and has been working with oversight ever since, as the economic crisis deepened in the heavily indebted Arab country. The Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value against the dollar since the crisis in 2019.
Lebanon has long looked to the Gulf for financial aid in the past, but Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia, have been reluctant to help because of Iran’s growing influence over the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. Western and other international donors have called for a new government and major reforms before providing aid.
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