Arab states to finance half of Lebanon refugee camp – Summary
Arab states will finance half of the reconstruction of a destroyed Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, the Lebanese premier announced at an international donor conference in Vienna on Monday. Lebanese and Palestinian leaders appealed to the international community at the one-day meeting to fund the rebuilding of the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon that was largely destroyed in 2007, when Lebanese government units fought extremists of the Fatah al- Islam group.
Gulf states Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, as well as other Arab countries pledged half of the 250 million dollars needed for the effort, Lebanese Premier Fouad Seniora told journalists.
The second half will be shared among the 70 countries present at the conference. The European Union pledged 45 million dollars, and the US promised 22 million dollars at the conference co-hosted by the Austrian government.
"I can assure you that it is going to contribute considerably towards building better relations between the Palestinians and the Lebanese, until they can be assured to go back to their homeland," Seniora said about the new camp for 27,000 refugees.
Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa said that the reconstruction effort was a step towards resolving the Palestinian question, but he noted that "it would be reinforced if negotiations between Palestinians and the Israelis would be put on the right track."
Until Palestinians were allowed to return to their homeland or until there were compensated, it would be the responsibility of the international community to help those refugees, he said.
The incidents in Nahr al-Bared confirmed that resolving the issues of extremism and terrorism required "an urgent and just resolution to the Palestinian question," Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad said. He announced that the Palestinian Authority planned to raise 10 million dollars for the camp in a public fund-raising campaign.
Around 33,000 Palestinians were evacuated from Nahr al-Bared before Lebanese forces started attacking Fatah al-Islam extremists controlling the camp early last summer.
The new camp would be under the control of the Lebanese government, Seniora said.
It will take about three years to build the new town, complete with schools, health facilities and UN infrastructure.