VARIOUS: Refugees shelter in schools and parks as Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora says Rome meeting will give chance to voice 'depth of misery' of Lebanese people over Israeli campaign

Record ID: 275469

  • Title: VARIOUS: Refugees shelter in schools and parks as Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora says Rome meeting will give chance to voice 'depth of misery' of Lebanese people over Israeli campaign
  • Date: 25th July 2006
  • Summary: (W3) BEIRUT, LEBANON (JULY 25, 2006) (REUTERS) PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA ARRIVING AT HOSPITAL TO VISIT WOUNDED WOMAN AND CHILD ON BED CLOSE OF SINIORA CHILD ON HOSPITAL BED (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PRIME MINISTER FOUAD SINIORA, SAYING: "I don't expect a ceasefire to be announced at the Rome talks. The Rome talks will give us a chance to speak about the miseries that the Le
  • Embargoed: 9th August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: War / Fighting
  • Reuters ID: LVABQIY754DN9UANC1ZQS942U8UE
  • Story Text: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said a conference discussing the crisis in his country on Wednesday (July 26) would give him the chance to express the terrible suffering his people are going through.
    "The Rome talks will give us a chance to speak about the miseries that the Lebanese people are being faced with. There are other issues and areas as well, which have been targeted by the Israeli enemy. People have been killed. So the Rome talks will give us a chance to raise our voice and allow the world to feel the depth of misery and suffering that we are going through," Siniora said while visiting the wounded in a Beirut hospital.
    Siniora heads Lebanon's delegation, which also include the ministers of defence, foreign affairs, and communications. He said he didn't expect a ceasefire to be announced in Rome.
    Plans are underway elsewhere to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population in Lebanon. It is estimated that almost one-fifth of its population has been displaced by Israeli bombing. In the capital, Beirut, people have turned shopping malls and parks into temporary shelters.
    The subject was raised when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met in Israel on Tuesday (July 25)
    Olmert said Israel was "very conscious" of the humanitarian needs of civilians in Lebanon.
    "The prime minister said Israel will allow, with advance co-ordination, for planes carrying humanitarian aid to land in Beirut airport," Olmert's office said in a statement summarising his talks with Rice.
    The United States backs the idea of a humanitarian corridor to get help to the needy, an idea Israel says it could support.
    One of the key sticking points for a ceasefire is the sequence of events for a deal.
    In a further development, the European Union will give another 10 million euros ($12.7 million) aid to help people in Lebanon, a European Commission spokesman said.
    This aid comes on top of a first tranche of 10 million euros announced last week. The European Commission would give the second tranche of aid because international organisations and non- governmental organisations through which EU aid is delivered had sought more funding.
    The United Nations appealed on Monday for $150 million in humanitarian aid for people in Lebanon. It said it now had agreement on a way forward for delivering aid to Lebanon, which up until now had been hindered by methods of procedure with Israel.
    "We have a breakthrough this week that the first convoys going from Beirut down south to Tyre in the south. We have also now a breakthrough with the Israelis on the notification procedure for the convoys and for bringing in from Cyprus regularly through specially chartered vessels, relief consignments to Beirut that would go on our aid convoys down to the most affected areas," U.N. Emergency Relief Co-Ordinator Jan Egeland said from Cyprus.
    Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah was also quoted on Saudi state television as pledging $500 million to rebuild Lebanon and $250 million for the Palestinians.
    "The custodian of the two holy shrines gave directions for the allocation of a grant worth 500 million (U.S.) dollars to the Lebanese people, so that it will serve as the nucleus of an Arab-international fund for the construction of Lebanon. He also instructed, may God preserve him, that a one thousand, million dollar (a 1 billion-dollar) deposit should be made at the Lebanese central bank to support the Lebanese economy. He also instructed, may God preserve him, that a 250-million dollar grant should be made to the Palestinian people so that it may be a nucleus for an Arab-international fund for the construction of Palestine," a newsreader said, reading a statement from the King.
    Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said on Tuesday that the main objective of the Lebanon crisis meeting in Rome would be to secure a ceasefire, as well as getting humanitarian aid to civilian victims.
    "We wanted this summit to tackle fundamental problems: the first is a ceasefire," Prodi told reporters ahead of the talks with top diplomats from the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
    "The second is to tackle humanitarian problems of refugees, the third is a possible peace force, because we want to provide a basic level of security for the medium-term both to Israel and to Lebanon."
    The one-day conference starting on Wednesday at 0730 GMT gathers ministers and diplomats from the United States, Britain, Italy, Spain, Germany, Canada, Russia, Finland, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the European Union, the World Bank, the United Nations -- plus Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
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