Hale visits Bassil, lauds performance of army and security apparatuses

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, David Hale, applauded on Friday the performance of the Lebanese Army and security apparatuses fighting terrorism.
The U.S. diplomat's words came in the wake of a meeting with Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister, Gebran Bassil.
"It was a productive meeting with my friend Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. We discussed the ongoing challenges on the political and security levels that Lebanon is facing today," Hale said, noting that supporting Lebanon's self-dissociation policy and helping it isolate the leak of extremism from Syria to Lebanon is one the United States' prime objectives.
"Lebanon plays a key role in the international efforts to fight terrorism. The model of coexistence of this country opposes the barbarism of extremist groups, mainly Daesh and Al-Nusra Front, which target minorities, Christians, women and children in the Middle East," he said.
"You can count on the strong and relentless support of the United States and other countries to strengthen the capacity of Lebanon and give it the means to defend itself," he added.
The ambassador then stressed the annihilation of the extremism strategy, which he said consists of five points.
"The military effort, the international effort to halt the influx of foreign fighters into region, the end of the funding sources to extremist groups, humanitarian assistance and support to victims, and the fight against propaganda campaigns which have served terrorists."
"The success of this strategy is based on coordination between countries. Sixty-two countries have gathered in the international coalition to end this threat," he noted, urging Lebanon to exercise vigilance against the danger of infiltration of terrorism and extremism in Syria.
On another level, Bassil received Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Badreddine Zayed, who extended to him an invitation from his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Chucri, to participate in the Arab ministerial meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh on the 28th and 29th of March.
The Minister finally met UNDP representative in Lebanon, Ruth Mountain.