BEIRUT, Lebanon - A senior U.S. diplomat on Monday discussed his country's support to Lebanese security forces with top government officials and security commanders, the U.S. Embassy said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, David Johnson, met with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, Interior Minister Hassan Sabei and senior security officials, the embassy said in a statement.

Johnson "reaffirmed the United States' steadfast support of Lebanon and discussed the ongoing US$60 million ISF assistance program, which is helping the ISF enforce the rule of law and protect the Lebanese people within their sovereign state," said the statement, referring to the Lebanese Internal Security Forces.

The U.S. is a strong supporter of Saniora's government against the Syrian-backed opposition led by the militant Hezbollah group.

The U.S. has sharply increased its military assistance to Lebanon since the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel in a show of support to Saniora's government. U.S. assistance to Lebanon was US$270 million in 2007, more than five times the amount provided a year earlier.

The U.S. has been assisting the ISF since 2006 in the areas of training, equipment donations and infrastructure development, the embassy statement said. The program includes the provision of 3,000 sets of civil disorder management equipment, 60 new sports utility vehicles and other forms of equipment. The U.S. will deliver 300 new police cars over the next three months and will finance a "state-of-the-art" command and control center in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, the statement added.