BEIRUT — The US has cancelled meetings in Washington with Lebanese armed forces commander General Rudolf Haykal after objecting to a statement the army issued on Sunday about border tensions with Israel, Lebanese officials familiar with the matter said Monday.

A Lebanese security official told Reuters the cancellations were “sudden and shocking” and prompted Haykal to call off the trip. Haykal had been due to arrive in Washington on Tuesday for meetings on military assistance and border-security cooperation.

The US Embassy in Beirut did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Washington is a key backer of Lebanon’s army, providing support of more than $3 billion over the last two decades in a policy aimed at supporting state institutions in a country where the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah has long held sway.

In Sunday’s statement, the army accused Israel of “insisting on violating Lebanese sovereignty, causing instability and obstructing the army’s deployment in the south.”

It condemned the “latest

© The Times of Israel