Hariri “gives $8 million for helicopters”
Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri has donated $8 million to the Lebanese government for the purchase of two firefighting helicopters, sources close to Hariri told The Daily Star on Thursday.
Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud, who presided over a meeting on Thursday to discuss launching a fundraising campaign to acquire such helicopters, contacted Hariri and thanked him for the donation, the sources added.
Baroud told reporters after the meeting that the government has so far raised $10 million for this purpose.
Forest fires hit the Chouf region southeast of Beirut earlier this week, consuming 500 hectares of woodland.