Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has urged his US counterpart Donald Trump to maintain American support for his country’s military, warning that southern Lebanon could see a return of the chaos of the 1970s without Washington’s backing, AFP reports.

“We don’t want to see that back again. All we’re asking is, keep supporting the LAF,” Aoun tells reporters of the Lebanese Armed Forces during a White House meeting with Trump. “All we’re asking is, keep supporting the LAF … I fully trust the LAF. I fully trust the leadership of the LAF.”