| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Arab FMs Meet in Egypt to Discuss Rebuilding Lebanon |
| 2006-08-20 |
| Seems they are a little concerned about that Iranian money. And, from english.aljazeera.net "Many Arab governments have expressed resentment over last week's speech by Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, in which he criticised fellow Arab leaders for not supporting Hezbollah. He said the war had revealed them to be "half men"." CAIRO, Egypt Aug 20, 2006 (AP)— Arab League foreign ministers convened for an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss how to fund reconstruction in war-ravaged Lebanon and defuse Mideast tensions amid rising discord between moderate Arabs and Syria, a main backer of Hezbollah. The Kuwaiti government plans to donate $800 million to Lebanon, Foreign Minister Sheik Mohammed Al Sabbah announced upon arrival in Cairo. Saudi Arabia said it already had donated $500 million, and other oil-rich nations have made pledges to chip in. Lebanese foreign minister Fawzi Salloukh urged his Arab counterparts to make further commitments. "Lebanon is looking for more help for its reconstruction," he said ahead of the meeting. Worried that the 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel has given a boost to radical militants and their Syrian and Iranian backers, Arab ministers were expected to review a plan to channel funds to Lebanon and to revive the stalled Middle East peace process with Israel. Diplomats said Arabs want to counter a flood of money that is believed to be coming from Iran to Hezbollah to finance reconstruction projects. An estimated 15,000 apartments were destroyed and 140 bridges hit by Israeli bombardment in Lebanon, along with power and desalination plants and other key infrastructure. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has pledged to help rebuild Lebanon, and social workers with the group have begun distributing money to pay rent and buy furniture for civilians who lost their homes paying out $12,000 in cash per person. Nasrallah did not say where the money would come from, but Iran, which helped create Hezbollah and is its strongest supporter, was widely believed to have opened its treasury for the rebuilding program. However, Iran which is not an Arab nation and is not part of the league denied on Sunday that it was sending money to Hezbollah. "Hezbollah is a legitimate body in Lebanon; they have their own economic resources and popular support there," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. Eighteen of the Arab League's 22 foreign ministers gathered in Cairo but in a sign of growing regional tensions, Syrian minister Walid Moallem skipped the meeting. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #2 Onset of donor fatigue in five ... four ... three ... |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-20 21:45 |
| #1 Arab League foreign ministers convened for an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss how to fund reconstruction in war-ravaged Lebanon Simple, get the "West" couch out more jezia. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-08-20 18:31 |