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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iranians disgruntled over aid to Lebanon's Hezbollah |
| 2007-08-15 |
| Many Iranians are disgruntled over their government's decision to hand over 25 million dollars in aid to a Hezbollah-linked relief group in Lebanon, an Iranian newspaper has reported. The daily Aftab Yazd, known for its criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's hardline government, in an editorial cited a reader's letter in which the amounts of money being sent to Lebanon were described as "inappropriate". Aftab Yazd noted how "many areas destroyed during the eight year war with Iraq which ended in 1988 were still awaiting funds for reconstruction" with thousands of people still displaced because their homes have yet to be rebuilt. Last week an Iranian envoy in Beirut, Hossein Khoshnevis, handed over a 25 million dollar cheque to Nabil Al Jaser, who heads the Council for the Reconstruction of Lebanon, a body set up by Hezbollah in the aftermath of last year's six-week long war with Israel. Khoshnevis also announced that 43 of the 63 villages Iran has pledged to help rebuild have been completed. The envoy also said that some 149 schools, 150 mosques, and 25 medical aid centers damaged in the fighting have been refurbished. Also over the last year Iranian funds helped remove explosive mines from some parts of southern Lebanon, Khoshnevis added as well as repair work to some roads and the reconstruction of 12 bridges bombed by Israeli war planes. |
| Posted by:Fred |