Lebanon wants continued presence of Malaysian Peacekeeping Force

Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Baharum said the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) chief Gen Jean Kahwaji made the request to him during a meeting at the Ministry of Defence here on Wednesday afternoon local time.

He said Kahwaji also expressed his appreciation to MALBATT who had worked very well in carrying out missions and operations set by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).

"He was thankful to MALBATT. We have no problems whatsoever with the people, the LAF and other countries' armies. They want us to continue (participating in) the mission.

"The cooperation between ATM and LAF is important because we do not know how long ATM will be here. So, the existing relationship and cooperation are very important for both sides," he told Bernama and RTM.

Mohd Johari said ATM had also sought LAF assistance to facilitate civil-military cooperation (Cimic) programmes such as in providing educational assistance, skills training, and medical aid to the local people.

He said military ties between the two parties had existed since 2007, in areas such as technical, training, infrastructure-related cooperation, as well as many other matters related to peacekeeping missions.

Mohd Johari arrived in Beirut last Wednesday with 215 personnel in the first batch of MALBATT 850-4 team led by Col Nazim Mohd Alim to witness their level of preparedness first hand.

MALBATT 850-4 under Col Nazim comprising a total of 850 officers and soldiers, including two officers and 28 members of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), had officially taken over duties from MALBATT 850-3 in Lebanon.

The MALBATT 850-3 team led by Col Reizal Arif Ismail with 820 officers and members of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), 29 members of the RBAF and a civil servant were sent to Lebanon for a year since Sept 14 last year.