BEIRUT: France denied Thursday it had reneged on an agreement with Lebanon by freezing its missile supply to Beirut, as was reported in a pan-Arab newspaper.

Quoting French sources, Al-Hayat said the agreement to send missiles to the army, hammered out under the government of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, had been put on ice while Paris monitors the work of the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

A spokesperson at the French Embassy in Beirut said the report of a halt in weapons supply was premature.

“So far no decision has been taken and I am not sure it will go in that direction. There is some debate,” the spokesperson told The Daily Star. “What’s written in Al-Hayat reflects only one side of what is being discussed. The decision has not been made.”

In late 2010, France said it would supply the Lebanese military with 100 anti-tank missiles, despite concerns raised by both Israel and the U.S.

A French official said the 100 HOT missiles, to be used by the Lebanese military’s Gazelle helicopters, would be delivered in early 2011 “with no conditions attached.”

The sources told Al-Hayat that France believed Mikati’s appointment had come about as a result of a decision by Syria and Hezbollah, but said that Paris would not turn down a visit by the Lebanese prime minister if he happens to be in Paris.

The U.S. and the European Union have piled pressure on the Hezbollah-dominated Cabinet of Mikati, urging it to abide by international resolutions, particularly ones related to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon – the U.N.-backed court probing the assassination of Saad’s father, Rafik Hariri.

On June 30, the STL handed Lebanon indictments and arrest warrants against four members of Hezbollah. Hezbollah denies involvement in the assassination and has vowed not to cooperate with the international court which it says is a “U.S.-Israeli project” aimed at targeting the resistance group and sowing strife in the country.

The Al-Hayat report comes amid heightened demands in the U.S. Congress that Washington curb support to Lebanon over concerns about Hezbollah’s reach in the Lebanese government and worries that military aid destined for the Lebanese Army might end up in the hands of the group and used against Israel, its key ally in the region.

Israel’s 34-day war against Lebanon in 2006 claimed the lives of some 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, and destroyed much of southern Lebanon.

A House panel Wednesday pushed ahead on a bill to block U.S. assistance to Lebanon and other countries unless the White House reassures Congress that these countries are cooperating in “the war on terrorism.”

The U.S. regards Hezbollah as a “terrorist organization.” and Intelligence officials estimate the group has amassed over 40,000 short and medium-range rockets, which it claims can reach deep into Israel.