Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Wednesday an additional $290 million of aide for U.N. agencies working on the Syrian refugee issue , Agencies reported.

Kerry made the announcement during a visit to Lebanon, which marks the first in five years by a U.S. secretary of state and comes amid spillover from the Syrian war and internal political turmoil.

In addition to discussing the refugee issue with Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Kerry sought to press them to deal with the political crisis that has left the country without a president since last month, a senior official traveling with Kerry said.

During a press interview he said the political stalemate in Lebanon is 'deeply troubling.' He said it was important to fill the vacancy and elect a new president.

Lebanon requires a “fully functioning” presidency in order to cope with the tremendous challenges it faces, a senior official traveling with Kerry earlier said, adding that although Washington has no favored candidate, the U.S. would like to see a new president in office as soon as possible.

Lebanon, home to 4.5 million people, is struggling to cope with the presence of more than one million Syrian and Palestinian refugees in desperate need of housing, education and medical care.