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Lebanon

Lebanon: Higher Relief Commission Daily Situation Report No. 76, 17 Oct 2006

Attachments


Lebanon under siege http://www.lebanonundersiege.gov.lb offers up-to-date information on relief efforts and diplomatic initiatives. The site lists locations of shelter and Aid distribution, along with a tally of damage, casualties and official statements. Significantly, the site is available in three languages. This site is the official Lebanese government source of information.

1-General situation.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora announced on Monday that an international donor conference in support of Lebanon would be held in Paris in the middle of January. "The Cabinet has decided to hold an Arab and international forum on aid for Lebanon in the French capital on January 15, 2007," the premier said after a Cabinet session. French President Jacques Chirac has expressed his willingness to host the conference, the premier added.

As for the as-of-yet unpaid compensation to those who were displaced and lost their homes in the recent war, the premier said the government would borrow the necessary funds from other countries and institutions.

The Prime Minister briefed his ministers of the outcome of his brief visit on Sunday night to Saudi Arabia, where he met with His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. Aid for the war-stricken southern suburbs was also discussed.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister dismissed on Monday a call by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to meet him and make peace, saying Lebanon would be the last Arab state to sign a deal with the Jewish state. The premier instead called on Israel to accept an Arab peace initiative floated by Saudi Arabia in 2002, offering peace in return for Israel's withdrawal from Arab land occupied in 1967.

Arab League chief Amr Moussa called on all Arab countries Monday to help with the massive task of Lebanese reconstruction following the war with Israel. "All Arab countries must support the vast reconstruction projects in Lebanon ... The damage caused by the aggression has profoundly shocked us," Moussa told journalists in Beirut ahead of an Arab meeting to discuss aid for the country.

Lebanon's economy urgently needs world financial aid, economic reforms and an end to political bickering in order to overcome last summer's bombardment by Israel, according to Finance Minister. Minister Jihad Azour hoped that the scheduled international donors' conference will win the country long-term financial assistance. Azour wants a regional financial centre set up in Beirut and the commencement of a privatization process.

The head of the council for development and Re-construction (CDR), Mr. Nabil Jisr and the vice president of the Saudi Development Fund, Mr. Yousef Bassam, signed a $7 million loan agreement on Monday to finance the construction of a highway linking Tannourine and Batroun. Bassam said the loan was one of many projects the fund plans to finance in the future to develop national infrastructure and Lebanon's health and agricultural sector. The fund signed a previous loan agreement with CDR to build a highway connecting Taanayel in the Bekaa Valley to the Mdeirej Bridge.

Education Minister Khaled Qabbani marked the start of the academic year for Lebanon's public schools on Monday with a small celebration in the courtyard of the Ansariyeh Public School. The school was damaged during the war that swept through Lebanon this summer, inflicting particularly heavy damage on the South of the country. While most private schools in Lebanon resumed classes last week, public schools were delayed another week. At Ansariyeh, Qabbani said the new academic year would be "normal and regular like in the previous years." He thanked all the Arab countries that have lent their support to Lebanon's education system, particularly Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which helped provide for the renovation of schools throughout the South. Without such assistance, Qabbani added, "we wouldn't have been able to start the school year on time."

Roberto Lorentini, a representative in Lebanon for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) also participated in the ceremony, inaugurating the "Back to School" campaign, which is providing knapsacks and school supplies to more than 400,000 Lebanese students. Lorentini said it was crucial to provide students with assistance and encouragement, especially following the hard times they faced during the war. Lorentini also announced that UNICEF would initiate a number of workshops to provide teachers with additional training to be able to meet the needs of their students.

The United Arab Emirates' project for the support and reconstruction of Lebanon, which was founded following the war with Israel this summer, has launched a Web site, www.uaeleb.com, in both Arabic and English. The site provides information on the objectives of the project in Lebanon, which includes the removal of land mines and cluster bombs, the reconstruction of a number of villages and various forms of humanitarian aid. The site provides daily updates on the progress of the project, along with work carried out in collaboration with the Emirate Red Crescent.

A Pakistani relief consignment of 10.7 MT of medicines was dispatched in a C-130 aircraft to Lebanon on Sunday. Earlier, six planeloads of relief goods containing tents, blankets, food items and medicines were dispatched to Lebanon in the months of July-September, 2006. The Government and the people of Pakistan have a keen desire to alleviate the suffering caused to the people of Lebanon resulting from the war. This gesture reflects that concern and was appreciated as such by the Lebanese Ambassador, Government of Pakistan Press release said.

2-Casualties:

The Cumulative figures of casualties are showing hereinafter.

Estimated No. of Death: 1,191

Estimated No. of Injured: 4,409

3-Displaced Population:

The overall estimated figures of displaced population in Lebanon are shown here bellow.

Displaced
Other Information
Unallocated (Estimated)
200,000
Sheltered with host families, friend etc.

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