US plans to boost military help for Lebanon

WASHINGTON, Nov 22 (Reuters) The Bush administration plans to give the fragile Lebanese government more military aid and other support, fearing more bloodshed after this week's political assassination, said a senior US official.

The official said Washington was trying to sustain ''a drumbeat of solidarity'' with Lebanon and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government both politically and militarily.

This was made more urgent following the killing of Lebanon's Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel yesterday, the sixth politician who opposed influence by neighboring Syria to be killed in nearly two years.

''In the budget process we are looking at more funds, considerably more (for military aid),'' said the official, who spoke on condition he was not named.

Washington's view of Lebanon as an example of an emerging democracy in the region had already been shaken by the war last summer between Israeli and Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas.

The assassination of Gemayel deepened the political crisis pitting the anti-Syrian majority against the pro-Damascus opposition led by Hezbollah, which is determined to topple what it sees as a pro-US government.

The US official declined to provide any amounts or when the budget request would be made by the White House, but called it a ''significant'' increase.

The White House's Office of Management and Budget, which would make the request to Congress, was not immediately available to comment today.

Two weeks ago the United States signed a deal to provide Lebanon with 10.5 million dollars in military aid, just months after the Lebanese army deployed to the south of the country following the July-August war with Israel.

Those funds are part of a US pledge to supply Lebanon with more than 40 million dollars in assistance to include military trucks, Humvees, ammunition, training, and spare parts and repairs for military equipment.

Earlier this year, the Bush administration also promised Lebanon about 250 million dollars in humanitarian aid.

The Lebanon aid is a fraction of Washington's military grants to Israel, which totaled 2.28 billion dollars in the 2006 fiscal year, ending on September 30.

BUSH'S SUPPORT US President George W Bush today called Siniora to offer his support after the assassination and pledged ''to support Lebanese independence from the encroachments of Iran and Syria,'' a White House spokesman said.

The senior US official said there was a delicate balancing act between supporting the democratically elected government of Siniora and direct gestures to him personally.

Political analysts said the risk of the Lebanese government's collapse was dreaded by Washington, already reeling from its failed policies in Iraq.

''Lebanon was supposed to be one of the places where US policy was working. As Lebanon slips into chaos and Iraq slips further into chaos ... the Bush administration's democratisation strategy seems especially imperiled,'' said Jon Alterman, director of the West Asia Programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Analyst Shibley Telhami of the Brookings Institution said the key problem with US policy in Lebanon was the lack of a strong central authority to replace the Syrians when they withdrew their forces from the country last year, ending a 29-year military presence.

''There will be a period of real uncertainty in Lebanon with the risk of people testing each other on the battlefield and a test of power. This is the big danger,'' he said of the days ahead.

Reuters SBA VP0047