Back and Forth Bickering Between Berri, Higher Relief Council
The Higher Relief Council on Saturday responded to criticism of excluding Syrian and Iran from its media campaign, saying it intended to thank them at a later stage.
It was responding to remarks by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in which he slammed the Council for not thanking Iran and Syria for their role in helping Lebanon following the July 2006 war on Lebanon.
The Council”s statement said the advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages.
It said the first phase of the campaign was intended to thank countries and organizations that provided Lebanon with cash grants to help the country after the summer 2006 Israeli aggression.
"Not mentioning the two countries (Syria and Iran) in the first phase was not targeted against them nor was it meant to ignore their role or their admirable assistance," the Council said.
It said the successive campaigns will show the role played by each country in providing assistance to Lebanon.
The statement said Iran failed to provide the Council with information regarding the amount spent on rebuilding Lebanon. Instead, the Council said it had received a description of the reconstruction projects.
Regarding Syria”s donation for the reconstruction of southern Lebanon, the Council said it had not been able to obtain "accurate information" on the contributions made by Damascus in the rebuilding process.
A source from Berri”s AMAL”s Movement rejected what he called an "apology attempt."
"However, we will list this development," the source said.