Lebanon national dialogue session focuses on need to equip army

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman reiterated the need to equip the Lebanese army during the national dialogue session at Beiteddine palace on Thursday. At the start of the session, Suleiman referred to the deadly clashes between Lebanese and Israeli troops in the town of Adeisseh. The Lebanese national dialogue meeting said in a statement on Thursday that it plans to "be guided by lessons learned" from the bloody clashes that took place two weeks ago between the Israeli and Lebanese armies.

A statement issued after the meeting said it had been agreed to "continue the search for national defense strategy and to complete studies on this subject."

According to Naharnet, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun did not attend the session. Defense Minister Elias Murr also wasn't present for health reasons.

The next round of national dialogue was set for October 19 after around three hours of discussions.