BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army will continue taking measures to maintain security and stability in the country, Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said Thursday.

He spoke during a meeting with Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi at the Defense Ministry in Yarze to review the security situation in the country, the state-run National News Agency said.

Ghosn reiterated his full support for the Army’s mission being carried out throughout the country to maintain security, the NNA said.

“The Army, which with its wise command has been able to help Lebanon overcome many security problems, will spare no effort in pursuing this path, based on its solid conviction that it is not with one party against another, but it is for all the Lebanese with their various sects and affiliations,” Ghosn said.

The minister said that the Army would never be a party to any political dispute. “The Army will always be the veins that pump life in the body of this country which has been exhausted by futile political differences,” Ghosn said.

The Lebanese Army has deployed in Tripoli to prevent a renewal of clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the northern city.

Likewise, troops have deployed heavily in Sidon to ward off sectarian strife between supporters of Salafist Sheikh Ahmad Assir and Hezbollah’s members.