BEIRUT: Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Jean Kawhaji met with U.S. General John Charlton Thursday to discuss cooperation between the U.S. and Lebanese armies and Lebanon’s intentions to implement U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.

According to a statement released by the U.S. embassy, the two officials discussed areas of strong and sustained military cooperation between the two countries.

The U.S. has provided around $100 million annually in military aid to Lebanon since 2005, although the funds were temporarily put on hold last August but U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton told Prime Minister Najib Mikati last week that the U.S. would continue its assistance to the Lebanese Army despite the internal challenges the U.S. is facing.

In a statement released by Mikati’s office last week, Clinton was quoted as saying that assistance to the Lebanese army was provided out of the U.S. belief that the army is “an institution capable of protecting Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty.”

Charlton and Kawhaji also discussed Lebanon’s initiatives to implement the country’s obligations under Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon and stipulated that the army cooperates with the UNIFIL in a bid to control the southern border.

The U.S. official also invited Kahwaji to Washington, D.C. in mid-October to meet the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey.

Meanwhile, Kahwaji met President Michel Sleiman Thursday to discuss security in the country and the process of providing the army with the necessary equipment, before Kahwaji travels to the U.S. to discuss U.S. aid to the army.