WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lebanon has asked the United States for $280 million in military assistance to help put down an uprising by Al Qaeda-inspired militants operating from a Palestinian refugee camp, the State Department said yesterday.

About $220 million would go to the Lebanese Armed Forces and $60 million to security forces, spokesman Sean McCormack said. The United States is weighing the request, he added.

The assistance would represent a significant increase over previous years. McCormack said $40 million in equipment and training was sent in 2006 and about $5 million is earmarked for the current year.

The White House, meanwhile, said militants want to distract international attention from an effort at the United Nations to establish a special tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut.

Reaffirming support for the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora of Lebanon, White House press secretary Tony Snow said the United States "will not tolerate attempts by Syria, terrorist groups, or any others to delay or derail Lebanon's efforts to solidify its sovereignty or seek justice in the Hariri case."

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Finn, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the Defense Department has been working to deliver a broad range of equipment and other materials to Lebanon.

"We hope to provide a robust package of security assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces in 2007 with more equipment and training," Finn said.

She said the Pentagon is "concerned about mounting evidence that the Syrian and Iranian governments, Hezbollah, and their Lebanese allies are attempting to topple Lebanon's legitimate and democratically elected government."