The Saudi grant that was approved in 2013 in the wake of the Arsal clashes seems to be frozen after reports said that Riyadh has halted the transfer of funds, As Safir daily reported on Monday.

The fate of the second Saudi grant, worth $1bn, that the kingdom tasked al-Mustaqbal movement chief Saad Hariri with supervising following the Arsal battles is now unknown after Riyadh's abstention from transferring the funds.

Following the 2013 clashes between Lebanon's troops and jihadists in the northeastern border region of Arsal, Saudi Arabia provided Lebanon's army with one billion dollars to strengthen its security.

Hariri had disclosed in a press conference then that the late King Abdullah had tasked him “with supervising how this grant will be handled.”

Well informed sources told As Safir that tasking Hariri was only a formal step and that the actual party controlling the process is the Saudi Royal Court.

The sources confirmed that the bulk of this grant has not been put into implementation for reasons that remain unknown by the Lebanese side.

They noted that only part of it was disbursed and the other amount is frozen upon a Saudi decision which obstructed many plans and contracts that had been planned by the ministry of interior and the military institutions to develop their capabilities.

D.A.

G.K.