Donors Pledge Nearly $8 Billion in Aid to Lebanon
25 January 2007
An international conference on aid to Lebanon has raised billions of dollars for the struggling nation.
Speaking in Paris Thursday, French president Jacques Chirac, the conference host, said international donors pledged $7.6 billion.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal announced that Riyadh will give more than $1 billion in new aid.
The United States, France, and the European Commission have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars. Britain pledged $48 million mostly for Lebanese refugees.
Mr. Chirac said Lebanon needs international support "more than ever" after what he called the "terrible clashes" of last year. In July and August of 2006, Israel launched a war against the the Shi'ite militia Hezbollah, destroying much of Lebanon's infrastructure.
On Tuesday, a Hezbollah-led strike paralyzed Lebanon as the opposition tried to force pro-Western Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to resign. Several people were injured Thursday in a clash between government and opposition supporters at a university in Beirut.
In southern Lebanon, soldiers clashed with armed Islamic militants today outside a Palestinian refugee camp.
Lebanese police blamed the violence surrounding Tuesday's strike for the deaths of three people and injuries to 170 others.
The Paris conference is also meant to increase support for Mr. Siniora's government in its power struggle with Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran.
Lebanon's public debt has reached 40 billion dollars, almost three times the country's gross domestic product. It is unclear how much of the aid raised in Paris is outright grants and how much is loans.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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